US and Iran near 60-day ceasefire extension with gradual Hormuz reopening

The United States and Iran are close to agreeing a 60-day extension of the current ceasefire, during which most outstanding negotiating issues would be addressed, including the gradual reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian state media reported on May 23.

The report came as Pakistan Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir left Tehran on May 23 after talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, President Masoud Pezeshkian and parliament speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. Pakistan's military said in a statement that the talks were "highly productive" and that negotiations over the preceding 24 hours had produced "encouraging progress towards a final understanding."

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on May 23 that some progress had been made on Washington's dispute with Iran and that the US might have "something to say" in the coming days.

"There's been some progress done, some progress made, even as I speak to you now, there's some work being done. There is a chance that, whether it's later today, tomorrow, or in a couple of days, we may have something to say," Rubio told reporters in New Delhi.

An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson told state television on May 23 that the two sides were "very far yet close" to an agreement but that US officials kept changing their positions. The spokesperson said Iran's main priority remained ending the war on all fronts including Lebanon, with the lifting of the US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz a key condition.

The spokesperson said the Hormuz question "has nothing to do with America" and described it as a matter between Iran and the Gulf states.

Ghalibaf told Munir during their meeting that Iran's armed forces had rebuilt their capabilities during the ceasefire and that if the US "foolishly restarts the war," the consequences would be "more crushing and bitter."

Iranian news agency Tasnim published a detailed account of the negotiating timeline on May 23, describing a process in which Iran has consistently refused to link war-ending talks to nuclear concessions, submitted a 14-point framework through Pakistani intermediaries and insisted on a binding UN Security Council resolution to guarantee any eventual agreement.

Iran's conditions include a full end to hostilities on all fronts including Lebanon, lifting of the naval blockade, release of frozen Iranian assets through a guaranteed mechanism, withdrawal of US combat forces from Iran's surrounding region, full sanctions relief covering UN, primary and secondary measures, suspension of oil sanctions during the negotiating window and compensation through a reconstruction and development fund.

The report said the US had provisionally agreed to the compensation fund in principle but that its size and mechanism remained unresolved.

Tasnim said Iran had rejected US demands for nuclear concessions as a precondition for ending the war, insisting the two issues were entirely separate and that nuclear talks could only begin after a satisfactory war-ending deal was in place.

Iran's red lines, according to the report, include transferring enriched uranium to the United States (it favours Russia) and shutting nuclear facilities, both of which Tehran has refused to accept, as it produces nuclear isotopes for cancer treatment at the Tehran facility in the west of the city.

The report said significant disagreements remained and that a deal was "not yet within reach," but that progress had been made on the separation of war-ending and nuclear tracks, frozen asset release, lifting the naval blockade and the guarantee mechanism for any final agreement.