Qatar, Pakistan Lead Push to Revive US-Iran Nuclear Deal — SkimNews
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- Regional mediators from Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia conducted multiple phone calls on Wednesday with both US and Iranian officials to de-escalate tensions and revive nuclear deal negotiations after Trump declared the MOU and ceasefire "over" and ordered two rounds of airstrikes.
- The mediators believe earlier rounds of talks made progress and want to prevent the MOU from collapsing, according to two regional sources and a US official.
- A regional source said regime elements inside Iran that oppose the MOU and seek to undermine it initiated the recent Iranian attacks in the Strait of Hormuz.
- Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Pakistani military commander Field Marshal Asim Munir that the US attacks and rhetoric were violations of the MOU, per a statement on his Telegram channel.
- After two days of US-Iran exchanges of fire, Thursday was calmer — US officials said no new strikes were conducted on Thursday, which they attributed to de-escalation efforts.
- After a Thursday national security meeting, a US official said the Trump administration is "still committed to finding a resolution" and technical-level talks continue, while labeling Iran's vessel attacks "acts of terrorism" and characterizing Iran's MOU performance as "failed at an unacceptable level."
Why it matters: With mediators from five countries running simultaneous phone diplomacy with Washington and Tehran, the MOU's survival now hinges on channels Trump publicly declared dead. A US official confirmed technical-level talks continue despite the president's declaration that the deal is "over," while mediators fear hardliners inside Iran are deliberately sabotaging Hormuz to collapse the agreement.
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