The memorandum of understanding signed in Islamabad on 18 June 2026 gave the United States and Iran sixty days to negotiate a final settlement covering Iran's nuclear programme, sanctions relief, and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. That deadline passed on 17 August without a deal, without a confirmed extension, and — on the most consequential measure of all — with the strait still closed.
The US and Iran went to war in February 2026, alongside Israel. The Islamabad accord, brokered in June, was meant to translate a ceasefire into a lasting framework. It has not. Each side now accuses the other of having broken the agreement first, and neither appears willing to move first toward restoring it.
A senior Iranian source told Reuters there had been "absolutely no progress" on reviving the interim agreement or defining a timeline for implementing commitments, with the two governments communicating only through mediators. On 14 August, a senior White House official described the situation as "static", adding that Iran had not come to the table to agree to a deal.
Whether there is anything left to revive is itself disputed. Iran's Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, has said there was "no 60-day ceasefire" to extend, characterising the Islamabad memorandum as a declaration of the end of the war rather than a temporary truce. Tehran's position is that Washington violated the interim agreement within 48 hours of signing it and then withdrew from it days later, meaning the 60-day period never formally began.
Washington's reading differs. The US has reinstated its naval blockade and sanctions on Iranian oil, and its stated position is that Iran should reopen Hormuz before the US fulfils further commitments. Tehran insists on the reverse: that Washington must first honour the commitments made in June — including releasing frozen Iranian assets — before the strait can reopen.
Iran's Persian Gulf Strait Authority, the body Iran established to manage access to the waterway, has said it will not reopen until Iran's conditions are met. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi was more direct, posting on X that "as long as the U.S. refuses to accept the reality of defeat," Iran will maintain the blockade. Crude oil shipments through the strait have effectively halted; the waterway previously carried about one-fifth of the world's oil.
Qatar and Pakistan are relaying messages between the two sides, though Iran's foreign minister has emphasised that this does not constitute a restart of formal negotiations. No substantive direct talks have been publicly confirmed. No US strikes on Iranian targets have been publicly reported since late July; the confrontation has shifted, at least for now, to economic pressure.
Former US officials, as reported by Ynet News, said the chances of reaching a new nuclear agreement within 60 days were always slim, even accounting for the extension clause built into the accord. White House officials were aware the deadline would pass without a deal.
What follows is unclear. Whether either side will resume formal negotiations, and on what timeline, has not been established publicly. Whether Washington has adopted a new policy posture since the deadline's expiry has not been confirmed. The sticking points — frozen assets, the naval blockade, Iran's nuclear programme — remain exactly where they were when the Islamabad accord was signed. The conflict does not appear to be resuming in its earlier military form. Nor does it appear to be ending. Both governments are holding their positions, waiting for the other side to decide that the cost of doing so has grown too high.
Comments (0)