US and Iran agree to extend 60-day ceasefire, Pakistani sources say

ISLAMABAD — The United States and Iran have agreed to extend a 60-day ceasefire under the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding as the agreement is set to expire on Aug. 17, Pakistani government sources told the Turkish news agency Anadolu on Wednesday, without disclosing the duration of the extension., “Both sides have conveyed their consent to the mediators to extend the deadline,” a source close to the mediation process said.The two countries were still exchanging messages over the duration, the source added.Neither Washington nor Tehran had publicly confirmed the reported agreement.The Islamabad memorandum, signed on June 17, gave the two sides 60 days to negotiate a final agreement and allowed the period to be extended by mutual consent. Talks later stalled over security guarantees and freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi said Islamabad was making “all-out efforts” to return the parties to negotiations and would continue using direct and indirect channels to support dialogue.The report followed a visit to Tehran by Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Raza Naqvi, who met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.”Pakistan is making all-out efforts to bring the two parties to the negotiating table and the Islamabad MoU and pave the way for peace and stability in the region,” Andrabi told a weekly news briefing in Islamabad.Pakistan remains engaged alongside “brotherly states” in “sincere efforts” to work toward a resolution to the crisis, he added.Islamabad will continue to “offset spoilers using direct and indirect channels” and ensure the continuation of constructive dialogue to resolve outstanding issues, Andrabi said.The US and Iran agreed to a Pakistan-brokered ceasefire in April and later signed a memorandum of understanding on June 17, launching negotiations toward a final agreement. However, the talks later stalled over disagreements on security guarantees and freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most strategic routes for global energy supplies and trade.Between July 8 and July 24, the US and Iran exchanged military strikes, with Washington launching attacks on targets inside Iran and Tehran responding by striking what it described as US military facilities and equipment in several Arab countries, including Jordan, Bahrain and Kuwait.Meanwhile, Iran’s Border Police Commander Brig. Gen. Ali Akbar Javidan dismissed reports of a possible US ground operation against Iran as “delusional,” telling Tasnim news agency that the country’s border forces were fully deployed and prepared for any attack.