US and Iran closing in on memorandum aimed at ending war, source says

By Nic Robertson, Alayna Treene, Kevin Liptak, CNN

(CNN) — The United States and Iran are moving closer to an agreement on a short memorandum ⁠to end the Iran war, a regional source familiar with the negotiations said, although Trump administration officials cautioned that talks had previously fallen apart at the last minute.

The White House received positive feedback from Pakistani mediators on Tuesday that the Iranians were progressing toward a compromise, two administration officials told CNN while offering some skepticism about Pakistan’s optimism.

But a renewed diplomatic push has emerged in recent days, the regional source said. President Donald Trump appears to be simplifying issues in peace negotiations so moderates in the Iranian regime can come back to the negotiating table, the source added, with the aim being to tackle thornier issues later.

A one-page plan being floated internally contains provisions that have been at the heart of negotiations to end the conflict, a person familiar with the plan told CNN. The document would declare an end to the war while triggering a 30-day negotiation period on resolving sticking points, including on nuclear issues, unfreezing Iranian assets and future security in the Strait of Hormuz, the person said.

Precise details of the plan couldn’t immediately be verified, but the source familiar said it would include discussion of a moratorium on uranium enrichment for a period of longer than 10 years. A previous US proposal had set it at 20 years.

The plan also requires Iran to ship its stockpile of highly enriched uranium out of the country, but details were still being negotiated.

Trump told PBS News on Wednesday that the terms of a potential deal would include Tehran shipping the material to the United States and pledging not to operate its underground facilities.

News of positive movement from the Pakistanis helped spur Trump on Tuesday to announce a pause of “Project Freedom” – an operation to guide stranded ships out of the strait – citing progress in negotiations with Iran, the administration officials said. The pause came after Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that Operation Epic Fury had ended and that the administration’s full focus was on Project Freedom.

The regional source told CNN that the harder the US pushed its agenda of Project Freedom and Operation Epic Fury, the more the hardliners in Iran stood up and had a bigger voice.

Trump’s top priority is finding a diplomatic offramp to the war and reopening the strait swiftly, the administration officials said.

The president on Wednesday expressed optimism about the prospects of soon reaching a deal, but he acknowledged the US has been down this road before. “Yeah, I think so, but I felt that way before with them, so we’ll see what happens,” he told PBS News.

Earlier Wednesday, he also issued a new threat to Iran, writing on Truth Social that if they don’t come to an agreement, the “bombing starts” and it will be of a “higher level and intensity than it was before.”

Before the declaration of a ceasefire, Trump officials had hoped to finalize a framework on a series of key issues — such as Iran committing to suspending its nuclear enrichment and lifting restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz and the US easing sanctions on Tehran and releasing billions in frozen Iranian funds, CNN previously reported.

That was the goal of Vice President JD Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner when they were set to travel to Pakistan for a second round of talks, before negotiations fell apart due to what US officials described as a divide among Iranian leaders.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

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