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US and Iran reach preliminary agreement to extend ceasefire

2026-05-28 22:40:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

US and Iranian negotiators have agreed to a deal that will extend their ceasefire for 60 days and launch negotiations on the future of Iran's nuclear program, US officials said.

The deal has not yet been approved by President Donald Trump or the leadership in Iran, officials told the BBC.

But there were conflicting reports from Tehran, with Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency citing a source close to the talks who said they had not been finalized or confirmed.

Both Iran and the US have accused each other of violating the fragile ceasefire in recent days.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it targeted a US base in the region on Thursday, following new US strikes in southern Iran overnight.

On Wednesday, Iranian state media reported elements of what it described as an unofficial draft of a 14-point memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the two countries.

The report included lifting Washington's naval blockade of Iranian ports, withdrawing US forces from "the vicinity of Iran" and restoring non-military traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, with Iran and Oman in control of the management and direction of the ships.

The White House called the alleged draft of the Memorandum of Understanding a "complete fabrication."

A fifth of the world's liquefied natural gas and oil normally passes through the Strait of Hormuz, and its closure has affected global fuel trade.

Since the initial ceasefire between the US and Iran took effect on April 8, Trump has suggested - repeatedly - that the two sides are close to a deal and that negotiations are progressing, but so far there have been no substantial results.

Talks that took place in Islamabad just days after the ceasefire came into effect, for example, ended without any substantive agreement.

In almost every case, and only on Wednesday, Trump and other officials have warned that "option B" - a return to combat operations - remains on the table.

Just last week, Trump told reporters he was just an hour away from ordering new strikes on Iran, but ultimately postponed at the request of US allies.

At a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Trump said talks were progressing but insisted that the Iranian proposal "wasn't ready yet" and that work was still ongoing.

It is unclear what happened in the next 24 hours, or when — or even if — Trump will give his final approval to the deal to extend the ceasefire.
However, doing so would allow the US and Iranian teams to discuss the much more complex and technical issues at stake, particularly regarding Iran’s nuclear program and its remaining stockpiles of highly enriched uranium.

Trump had suggested that the US could take it, or, together with Iran, dilute it domestically or at a third location.

Axios, which first reported the preliminary agreement on Thursday, said Trump had been briefed on the proposal but did not immediately sign it and would take several days to review it.

Confirmation from American sources of anonymous Axios reports on the outlines of the agreement is rare, suggesting that the two sides may be closer to an agreement than at any previous point during the more than six-week-old ceasefire.

Reports say the deal could allow "unrestricted" passage through the Strait of Hormuz and that Iran will have 30 days to remove mines from the narrow shipping passage.

The US will also lift its blockade and issue sanctions waivers to allow Iran to resume selling oil.

Leading the White House briefing, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent declined to confirm whether a deal had been reached.

"It's always a mistake to go before the president," he said, "and everything will be the president's decision."

Asked if any eventual peace deal includes the "reconstruction" of Iran, he said: "We need to reach an agreement before we go to the other side."