On Monday, a senior Israeli official told the jerusalem post that Jerusalem did not expect a ceasefire to take shape in the coming days. That assessment keeps the five-week-old conflict's timeline open-ended and places the focus on a Pakistan-drafted framework and an approaching U.S. deadline that could determine whether talks advance.
Pakistan put together a framework overnight and exchanged it with Iran and the United States as mediators sought a path out of the five-week-old conflict. The proposal outlined a two-tier approach: an immediate phase followed by a comprehensive agreement, with the initial understanding to be structured as a memorandum of understanding and finalized electronically through Pakistan. Phase one would involve a 45-day ceasefire, during which negotiators would try to hammer out a permanent end to the war, and the initial text envisaged that phase one could be extended if more time was needed for talks. A source aware of the proposals said, "All elements need to be agreed today."
Donald Trump set an approaching U.S. deadline after Washington and Tehran received the Pakistan-crafted plan, pressing for a rapid outcome. The senior Israeli official told the jerusalem post that Israel and the United States were now more closely aligned than at any previous point, and that Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu were more coordinated than any previous American and Israeli leaders, signaling tighter policy alignment as negotiators moved to test the Pakistan draft against Tehran’s red lines.
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Mediators say only a final, comprehensive deal will lead to fully reopening the Strait of Hormuz and solve the problem of Iran’s highly enriched uranium, and Tehran has already rejected any immediate move to reopen the waterway. The Pakistan blueprint placed an early ceasefire as a basis for broader talks, but mediators caution that reopening the Strait and resolving nuclear-material concerns hinge on a finalized settlement rather than an initial memorandum.
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By the end of Tuesday, the United States set a hard marker: Donald Trump warned Tehran it must make a deal or face having "hell" rained on it. Whether Tehran will accept the Pakistan framework or agree to the terms under the U.S. deadline remains unknown; the only explicit near-term test is whether the parties can meet the demand that "All elements need to be agreed today." For affected actors, the immediate next step is watch for confirmation from Iran and Washington on the memorandum's wording by the end of Tuesday, while mediators and regional actors will press for signatures that would trigger the proposed 45-day ceasefire.