Iran, US say deal to end war 'has never been closer'

India's Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Friday lodged a "strong protest" with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio over US strikes on commercial shipping in the Middle East, which killed three Indian sailors last week. 

"I reiterated India's strong protest at the attacks by the US Navy in the Gulf that killed three Indian mariners. Such lethal actions against commercial shipping are not justified," Jaishankar wrote in a post on X. 

Diplomatic relations between New Delhi and Washington have come under significant strain since Trump returned to the White House in 2025, particularly over trade.

The US State Department has not publicly commented on the call between Jaishankar and Rubio, but said it was in direct contact with the Indian government. 

On Wednesday, the US struck the Palau-flagged MT Settebello off the coast of Oman, killing three sailors on board.

This came after another Palau-flagged tanker, the MT Maverix, was struck on June 8. It had 24 Indian sailors on board who were safely airlifted from the vessel.

On Thursday, a Guinea-Bissau-flagged tanker was hit in a US strike. New Delhi said its crew, which included 20 Indian sailors, was rescued.

US President Donald Trump claimed that at least one of the strikes was carried out by Iran. 

In a post on Truth social on Friday, Trump said Iran's "totally rebuffed drone attack last night against Indian ships leaving the Hormuz Strait is TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE. They better get their act together, and FAST!"

Iran has denied the allegation, calling it "simply baseless."

The US military has accused Iran of launching "multiple one-way attack drones" targeting commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

All of the drones were shot down, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a post on X.

Despite the alleged drone attack, the waterway "remains open for transit" and the shipping traffic "continues unimpeded," said CENTCOM, which oversees US military operations in the Middle East.

The Strait of Hormuz has been a focal point of the US-Israeli war against Iran since the fighting erupted in late February.

With both Iran and the US imposing respective naval blockades and Tehran threatening to strike ships trying to pass through the strait, the waterway has effectively been closed, triggering a global energy crisis.

Before the conflict broke out, the strait accounted for around 20% of the world's oil and gas shipments.

On Thursday, Iran warned that any vessel attempting to cross the waterway, including tankers and commercial ships, would be shot at.

The alleged drone attack by Iran comes hours after the US and Iran said a deal to end the war was closer than it has been at any stage.

The US and Iran may be nearing a breakthrough.

DW looks at what has emerged so far, and the key risks and challenges shaping any possible agreement in this report.

Pakistan's PM Shebhaz Sharif says a final text to end the US-Iran war has been agreed. Iran's foreign minister wrote on X that a deal "has never been closer," as US President Donald Trump said a deal could be signed within days.

Iran is the "winner" of the war with the United States and Israel and has "emerged stronger" from the conflict, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday amid growing signs that a peace deal was close.

Araghchi told Iranian state television that no agreement has been signed yet but that an "end to the war on all fronts, including in Lebanon, will be announced under [an] interim deal."

According to Araghchi, this initial deal is set to end the US blockade of Iranian ports and reopen the Strait of Hormuz — but he warned that management of the key waterway, through which around 20% of the world's oil supplies flowed, will not return to the pre-war status quo.

He said sovereignty over the strait belongs to Iran and neighbors Oman and that Tehran would secure the safe passage of ships.

He also said that the deal on the table does not address Iran's nuclear program. "Nuclear issues will be discussed in later stages," he said, provided the interim deal is implemented as a "first step."

Finally, despite suggesting that the war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon would also end, Araghchi said an end to hostilities would also depend upon "Israel's withdrawal from occupied areas"  something which Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz ruled out earlier on Friday (see below).

Araghchi accused Israel of trying to derail a potential peace deal with the United States.

Pakistan's prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, on Friday echoed optimism from Washington and Tehran that a peace deal between the United States and Iran was closer than ever.

"We can confirm that a final, agreed upon text of the peace deal has been reached," he wrote on social media, adding that Islamabad was now "working closely with both sides to finalize the next steps."

Pakistani mediators have played a key role in negotiations between the United States and Iran, and Sharif insisted: "Peace has never been this close as it is now."

He also called on all parties and all observers to refrain from spreading inaccurate information, which he referred to as "noise."

"We are fully aware of incessant misinformation campaign[s] being waged by those who want to sabotage the peace deal," he said, without referring to any particular entity.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday that a peace agreement with the United States "has never been closer."

Araghchi's comment, posted on social media, came as "three regional officials" also told the Associated Press (AP) news agency that a deal between Washington and Tehran was "close."

A senior US official reportedly told AP that the "tentative" deal includes terms for "removing and destroying nuclear material from Iran."

Araghchi referred to the potential deal as the "Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding," reflecting the important mediating role played by Pakistan in negotiations.

"Pending its finalization, the media should refrain from entering speculation about its content," he added. "In line with our responsible and transparent approach, all details will be shared with the public in due course."

Regardless of what may be agreed in any peace deal signed by the United States and Iran, Israel will not withdraw from any territories occupied during the current ongoing conflict in the Middle East and will continue to combat any attempts by Iran to acquire nuclear weapons, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Friday.

"Our security doctrine is sharp and clear: We act against both near and distant threats and strive for decisive outcomes rather than compromises and concessions," Katz wrote on social media, insisting that the Israeli military (IDF) "will not withdraw from the security zones in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza."

Katz said this policy was a "central lesson from the events of October 7 [2023]" — when Hamas militants lauched attacks in Israel that killed over 1,000 people and saw a further 251 taken hostage.

Israel's retaliatory invasion of Gaza has seen over 70,000 Palestinians killed and much of the occupied territory's infrastructure destroyed, while also prompting conflict with Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon and with Iran itself, with Israel supported by the United States on the latter front.

"Together, we have inflicted severe blows on Iran that have set back its capabilities by many years," wrote Katz – despite Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) continuing to target US military bases across the Gulf, and indeed Israel itself.

US President Donald Trump has claimed that Washington and Tehran are close to signing a peace deal, a deal which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel is not party to, but which Defense Minister Katz claims takes into account a "shared interest" with Israel: preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

"We expect [President Trump] to uphold this principle [as well as] additional principles in the realm of missiles and terrorist proxies," Katz wrote, referring to Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.

President Donald Trump posted on social media on Friday to voice dissatisfaction with Iranian reports on a rumored agreement between the US and Iran. 

"The terms that Iran leaked out to the Fake News have NOTHING to do with the terms that were agreed to, in writing," Trump wrote, claiming the accounts bore "no relation to the truth." 

"Very dishonorable people to deal with," Trump wrote. "With them, there is no such thing as dealing in good faith. AMAZING!" 

Trump also said Iran's "totally rebuffed" drone attack on Indian ships leaving the Strait of Hormuz was "TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE." This follows India rebuking the US for several strikes that hit ships crewed by Indian sailors in recent days.

Iran "better get their act together, and FAST!" the president concluded.

Terms of an agreement, in writing or otherwise, remain a mystery as neither side has officially published the contents of a memorandum of understanding.

Mediators Pakistan on Friday only spoke in vague terms of the "progress achieved through sustained diplomatic engagement," making no mention of what this entailed other than to voice "hope that these efforts will soon lead to a durable understanding and peaceful resolution." 

Iran's state media say a draft agreement with the United States would leave Tehran in control of the Strait of Hormuz.

Traffic through Hormuz has been under Iranian control since fighting with the US and Israel began on February 28. Iran has allowed only limited shipping and requires vessels to seek permission from its armed forces before transit.

"Iran makes no commitment in this text to cede the management of the strait or the restoration of conditions that existed prior to the American and Israeli military aggression," according to the official IRNA news agency. It referred to "the broad outlines of the current text" being finalized.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Iran has "not reached a final conclusion" on an agreement.

Citing a source close to negotiators, Iran's Mehr news agency published what it described as a draft deal. It said the text would end the war on all fronts, including Lebanon, release $24 billion (€20.8 billion) in frozen Iranian assets, and set a 60-day window for talks on Tehran's nuclear program.

The draft also outlines a suspension of sanctions on Iranian oil and petrochemical sales and a full lifting of the US naval blockade on Iranian ports in place since April 13. It highlights demands for reparations and reconstruction plans worth at least $300 billion.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday said that his government was not party to any deal signed between the US and Iran.

Netanyahu expressed appreciation for US President Donald Trump and his "commitment on terms of any final Iran agreement."

However, he clarified that Israel was not a part of the memorandum of understanding announced by Trump.

Netanyahu spoke to Trump on Thursday after the latter announced the said deal, which has yet to be formally addressed by Tehran.

The Israeli prime minister's office said Trump was committed to the removal of enriched material from Iran, the dismantling of enrichment infrastructure, the limiting of missile production and ending Iran's support for regional proxies.

Iran has indicated that the deal would not cover its missile program and that discussions on nuclear and economic issues were yet to take place.

Following the outbreak of the war on February 28 and the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in an Israeli airstrike on Tehran, the Lebanese Hezbollah militia fired rockets at Israel, thereby entering the war on Iran's side.

Israel responded with airstrikes on the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut and other parts of its northern neighbor, spreading the war to Lebanon. The Israeli military has also occupied a strip of land in southern Lebanon forming a "security zone" in an area from where it says Hezbollah launches attacks on Israeli towns.

Iran's semi-official Mehr news agency, which AFP news agency cited as reporting details of the preliminary agreement, said the memorandum of understanding would include a "permanent and immediate cessation of hostilities on all fronts, including in Lebanon."

Iran has reportedly outlined a draft memorandum of understanding with the United States that would ease tensions and reshape regional security.

However, an official response from Tehran has yet to be confirmed.

The proposal includes sanctions relief and military de-escalation, while leaving key issues like missiles off the table, according to the Mehr News Agency, a semi-official news agency sponsored by the government of Iran.

Mehr said the draft includes a US commitment to lift sanctions, withdraw forces from around Iran, and end a naval blockade.

The agreement reportedly also envisages the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the cancellation of oil sanctions, and the release of Iran's frozen funds.

Final negotiations are expected to focus on nuclear and economic issues, Mehr said, but this would exclude Iran's missile program.

The draft still requires approval by relevant authorities.

You join our coverage of events in the Middle East as we await details of a preliminary agreement aimed at resolving the conflict between the United States and Iran.

US President Donald Trump has said documents were being prepared and could soon be ready for signing.

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday that he understood Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei had agreed to a "very strong memorandum of understanding."

The president had earlier said that the signing of any agreement would be attended by Vice President JD Vance.

Trump previously called off plans for further strikes on Iran, saying that the final points of a deal with Tehran have been "approved by all parties involved."

Read on to stay up to date with the latest developments in the Middle East conflict, now in its fourth month.