US President Donald Trump on Saturday said the peace deal to end war with Iran will be signed on Sunday. This comes hours after mediator Pakistan said that the peace deal finalisation was in its final stages and would be signed within 24 hours.
“The Deal is scheduled to get signed tomorrow, and immediately after it is signed, the Hormuz Strait is OPEN TO ALL,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform on Saturday. Track updates on US Iran conflict
Trump’s statement, however, ran counter to Iran’s foreign ministry which indicated earlier in the day that the deal would not be signed Sunday, according to state media reports.
Also read: US-Iran peace deal: Pak says agreement on Sunday, Washington hopeful, Tehran says ‘wait and see’ | What we know
After Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s statement on the peace deal being signed within 24 hours, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said it was yet to be determined, “although it will not be tomorrow”.
He nonetheless added: “The possibility of this happening in the coming days cannot be ruled out.
Foreign minister Abbas Araghchi had on Friday that the deal could be signed “in the coming days”, while a senior US official had put their confidence in finally reaching an agreement at “80 to 85 percent”.
Also read: Killed on Feb 28, to be buried on July 9: Why Iran delayed Ayatollah Khamenei’s funeral by over 100 days
The apparent momentum comes despite the latest flare-up in the Strait of Hormuz, which has been at the centre of the months-long war that has roiled the region and the global economy.
Weeks of negotiations on a long-term peace agreement following an April 8 truce have so far been fruitless, with US President Donald Trump repeatedly insisting a deal was near only for the wrangling to drag on.
