Iran's government said a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to end its war with the United States will not be signed on June 14, even as observers say a deal appears imminent.
According to Iran's state broadcaster IRIB on Friday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said regarding the timing of the war-end MOU with the United States, "We need to wait and see a bit more." He added, "It will not be tomorrow (the 14th), but the possibility of signing within a few days cannot be ruled out."
He cautioned, however, that "we must be careful, given that the other side has made no comment about this process."
Baghaei also explained that "the Islamabad memorandum currently under discussion focuses on ending the war, and we have decided not to discuss the nuclear issue at this stage."
The remarks are interpreted as suggesting that while significant progress has been made on the war-end agreement itself, last-minute coordination continues over issues such as the method and location of signing and language related to the nuclear program.
Earlier, Reuters, citing Western diplomatic sources, reported that Geneva, Switzerland, is being floated as a leading candidate for the venue of the US-Iran war-end MOU signing ceremony. US President Donald Trump also said the signing ceremony could be held in Europe this weekend.
However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi denied the Geneva meeting claim in a recent interview with IRIB, saying, "The signing will be done digitally, remotely."
Pakistan, which has mediated the war-end negotiations between the United States and Iran, also said an agreement was imminent. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on his X (formerly Twitter) account on Friday, "A final agreement is expected within the next 24 hours, and we are preparing to proceed immediately with the electronic signing of the agreement."
