Pakistan on Thursday (July 2, 2026)said its mediators, along with Qatar, concluded separate meetings with the US and Iranian negotiators in Doha and reported “positive progress” on various aspects of the MoU, with the two sides agreeing to further discussions.

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson also posted the same statement hours earlier.

The U.S. and Iran signed the memorandum of understanding (MoU) on June 18, aimed at restoring peace in West Asia. It was followed by technical-level talks in Switzerland on June 21, with Pakistan and Qatar as mediators.

“Qatari and Pakistani mediators concluded separate meetings with the US and Iranian negotiators in Doha today (Thursday), with positive progress made on issues related to the aspects of the Islamabad MOU, building on the Lake Lucerne Summit,” the Foreign Office said.

Though the next date of talks was not announced, it was decided to continue discussions after the funeral of former Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

“Parties have agreed to continue discussions over the coming period, with the next meeting to be set at the earliest possible time following the funeral processions of the former Iranian Supreme Leader,” it said.

Khamenei, who ruled Iran for the last three decades, was killed on February 28, the first day of massive U.S. and Israeli air strikes on Tehran.

The burial ceremonies are slated to be held in Tehran and Qom on July 5, 6, and 7. The final burial ceremony will take place in the city of Mashhad on July 9.

Pakistan and Qatar are mediating talks between the two adversaries amid their posturing, tough talk, and attacks on each other.

Vice President J.D. Vance will lead the U.S. delegation for the in-person signing of the peace deal with Iran in Switzerland on Friday (June 16, 2026), President Donald Trump said.

Both Mr. Trump and Mr. Vance have electronically signed the framework agreement with Iran’s lead negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, according to a senior U.S. official quoted by The New York Times.

In a media interaction in France on Monday (June 15, 2026), Mr. Trump said Mr. Vance will attend the signing ceremony.

“I may be involved, I may not,” the President said in response to a question on his presence at the signing ceremony.

The text of the Memorandum of Understanding will be released “pretty soon… sometime after Friday”, Mr. Trump said.

In media interviews here, Mr. Vance said the peace agreement was signed digitally on Sunday (June 14, 2026), and its full text was likely to be made public later this week.

“We already signed the deal digitally yesterday (Sunday),” Mr. Vance said on the Good Morning America programme on ABC News.

The deal was negotiated through mediators that included Pakistan and Qatar.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday (June 15, 2026) said that his country would host the signing ceremony of the deal between the U.S. and Iran in Switzerland on June 19.

The Hormuz Strait will be fully open by Friday (June 19, 2026), and heavy tankers will get priority movement to ensure that the oil and gas supplies flow very quickly, the NYT quoted the senior U.S. official as saying.

“Just to be clear here, it takes a little bit of time, because you know you have mines in the Straits. But you will see a significant increase in traffic in the Strait of Hormuz actually starting already, and that will ramp up slowly over time to the point where I think a week from now, two weeks from now, we probably won’t return to normal in two weeks, but we will see a significant increase in Strait traffic,” the official said.

The official made clear that the memorandum of understanding ensured the Strait of Hormuz would be “toll-free for 60 days,” with the expectation that it would become part of the “final agreement, as well”.

The Strait of Hormuz, located between Iran and Oman, is considered one of the world’s most important energy chokepoints, carrying a substantial share of global oil and liquefied natural gas exports.

In the early hours of Saturday (April 11, 2026), an Iranian delegation, led by the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, reached Islamabad and was welcomed by Field Marshal Asim Munir and Foreign Minister Mohammed Ishaq Dar at the airport. They were followed by the arrival of the U.S. negotiating team, led by Vice President J.D. Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner, son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump. The mediated talks between the U.S. and Iran are aimed at cementing a permanent ceasefire, following the two-week ceasefire declared earlier last week.

On March 24, The New York Times reported that the U.S. had sent Iran a 15-point plan to end the war, more than three weeks after the U.S., along with Israel, had started bombing the country. The publication said that the plan was handed over to the Iranian side by Pakistan’s Gen. Munir. It is believed that he had been in contact with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the powerful paramilitary force of Iran that emerged more powerful in Iran after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was assassinated by a U.S.-Israeli strike.