A memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran is expected to be signed as early as Sunday in a virtual ceremony, with Pakistani and Qatari mediators also set to participate, according to multiple reports Saturday. The agreement would extend the current ceasefire by 60 days, reopen the Strait of Hormuz to international shipping, and trigger negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program — though significant disputes over the deal’s terms, timing, and implications remain unresolved.

President Donald Trump announced the imminent signing in a Saturday post on Truth Social, declaring that “immediately after” the deal is signed, “the Hormuz Strait is OPEN TO ALL.” Trump portrayed the agreement as a categorical break from the Obama-era nuclear accord, which he described as having paved an easy path to Iranian nuclear capability. “My Agreement with Iran is the exact opposite, A WALL TO NO NUCLEAR WEAPON!” he wrote, adding that Iran “no longer” wants a nuclear weapon and will not be permitted to obtain one “through purchase, development, or any other form of procurement.”

He also stated that “no money will exchange hands,” distancing the deal from the JCPOA, which he accused the Obama administration of funding with hundreds of billions of dollars, including “1.7 Billion Dollars in green, cold cash.”

On the question of Iran’s existing stockpile of highly enriched uranium — estimated at hundreds of kilograms — Trump indicated that retrieval would not occur immediately. “At the appropriate time, when all is calm, we will go in and get the Nuclear Dust, buried deep under the powerful sunken granite mountains,” he wrote, adding that it would be “downblended and destroyed” either in Iran or the United States. A senior U.S. official separately told reporters that the pending deal “leads to” Washington obtaining Iran’s enriched uranium.

The White House had originally sought a public signing ceremony in Geneva, and Pakistan had pushed for Islamabad, but Iran reportedly declined both venues. The signing will instead take place virtually, with U.S. officials citing logistical reasons, according to Axios. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif confirmed Saturday that the final text of the deal had been reached and that Islamabad was preparing for an electronic signing within 24 hours, to be followed by technical-level talks the following week.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry, however, was notably more circumspect. Spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Sunday’s signing would not take place, though he did not rule out a signing “in the coming days,” and cautioned against firm statements about timing given what he called “hesitation” on the part of the United States. Baghaei also said that the release of Iran’s frozen funds is an integral part of the pending agreement, and that the presence of foreign militaries and their bases in the region must end as part of any arrangement.

He further indicated that Iran intends to charge for services provided in the Strait of Hormuz, framing the management of traffic through the waterway as a matter of national security.

According to a U.S. official cited by Channel 12, Trump spoke by phone with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday and told him directly: “This is the deal. It’s an excellent deal, and it’s time to end this war.” Netanyahu, the official said, offered little pushback. “Bibi didn’t say much in the call. Evidently, he understood that there’s going to be a deal, and that he can’t stop it.”

Senior Israeli officials and Iran analysts were far less sanguine. Speaking to Channel 12, officials who have worked for decades on the Iran portfolio said the emerging terms of the MOU “endanger Israel’s security interests.” They warned that the immediate practical effects would be “the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, the resuscitation of the regime, and a slap in the face for the Iranian public.”

The officials argued that Iran was effectively “paying on credit” — agreeing only to discuss its nuclear program after the war formally ends and after a set of conditions, including the release of frozen funds, are met. Drawing a pointed analogy to the Gaza ceasefire, one official asked: “What will be the Americans’ essential leverage if, after 60 days of a ceasefire, the Iranians do not begin the steps required of them? The credible military threat has been all but eroded.”

Officials also noted that uranium extraction had been downgraded to uranium dilution in the emerging framework, and that Iran’s ballistic missile program is not addressed by the agreement at all. “All the goals that Israel set are not immediately dealt with in the agreement,” the officials said, adding that Iran is “reconnecting itself with Hezbollah through the agreement” rather than being required to curtail its support for terror proxies.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid was sharply critical of Netanyahu’s handling of the negotiations. “He is turning us into a client state that takes orders about its national security,” Lapid said, calling the outcome “a complete failure” and adding that “the next government will have a historic role: to repair the damage caused by Netanyahu’s inability to turn military achievements into strategic successes.”

The deal also faces domestic opposition within Iran itself. Dozens of protesters gathered Saturday outside a Foreign Ministry office in Mashhad, chanting slogans against Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi following a televised interview in which he discussed the prospective agreement. Footage shared by Fars News Agency showed women in black chadors chanting “death to dishonorable Araghchi, the infiltrator,” while waving red and black flags. Other videos on social media, which could not be independently verified, showed similar protests outside the Foreign Ministry building in Tehran, with crowds also calling for the resignation of parliament speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

Hardline figures have argued that the deal does not serve Iran’s interests and would deprive Tehran of its leverage over the Strait of Hormuz.

In his Friday interview with state television, Araghchi said the deal calls for the lifting of the U.S. naval blockade on Iranian ports — imposed in response to Iran’s own blockade of the Strait of Hormuz — and acknowledged that “the administration of the Strait of Hormuz will no longer be the same as before,” describing the waterway as one of Iran’s “main instruments of deterrence.”

The MOU, as described by officials on both sides, is not expected to directly resolve the core objectives that shaped the conflict: preventing Iran from attaining nuclear weapons, rolling back its ballistic missile program, ending its support for regional terror proxies, or creating conditions for regime change. Those issues are slated to be taken up in subsequent negotiations — the outcome of which remains deeply uncertain.