Iran Confirms MoU Includes Frozen-Funds Mechanism as Switzerland Offers to Host

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Friday that the draft memorandum of understanding under negotiation with the United States includes a mechanism for releasing Iran’s frozen overseas funds, and that the proposed agreement would announce an end to the war on all fronts, including Lebanon. The remarks, delivered in a public statement and on social media, are the most concrete contours Tehran has placed on the deal since back-channel talks resumed during the ceasefire window.

Araghchi’s framing — a single document that both unlocks Iranian assets and binds Tehran’s regional proxies to a cessation — is a significant escalation in specificity from anything the Iranian regime has previously confirmed. It also represents a shift from the leaked draft terms the White House rejected earlier in the day, suggesting either revised language or a parallel track has firmed up since this morning.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif told reporters separately that Washington and Tehran have agreed on a “final text” of the peace deal. That claim — from a third-country leader who has acted as a discreet messenger between the parties — runs ahead of what Iran itself is willing to confirm. Araghchi’s ministry on Friday characterized the state of play more cautiously, saying understandings had been reached on most issues but stopping short of declaring a finished document. Iranian state media, in a televised readout, said there is no timeline yet for signing.

The gap between Sharif’s “final text” and Tehran’s “most issues” is the story’s first real fault line. It tracks with a broader pattern in which mediators — Islamabad, Doha, Muscat — have routinely been more optimistic than the principals themselves, sometimes because they are paid in diplomatic capital to close deals, and sometimes because they hear what each side wants the other to hear. The Guardian, surveying the day’s competing claims, characterized the deal as “elusive”, with Trump and Tehran trading conflicting versions of where the text actually stands.

Mediation infrastructure firms up

While the principals haggle, the scaffolding around a signing is being assembled. Switzerland — Iran’s protecting power in the United States since the 1980 break in relations — publicly offered to host a possible MoU signing. Bern’s offer is not symbolic. It is the same channel the two governments use for routine prisoner notifications and consular emergencies, and a Swiss venue would allow Tehran to claim the meeting was conducted on neutral ground rather than under American sponsorship — a domestic political requirement the Iranian regime has signaled repeatedly.

The financial plumbing is moving as well. Reuters, as cited by Middle East Eye, reported that the United Arab Emirates has agreed to release billions of dollars in Iranian funds held in Emirati banks. The UAE has long been one of the largest single jurisdictions holding Iranian assets parked offshore during the sanctions period , and an Emirati release would be the first concrete movement of money tied to the negotiations. It also gives the proposed MoU a deliverable that does not require US Treasury action — a politically lighter lift than unfreezing dollar-denominated assets held inside the American banking system.

Taken together, the Swiss venue and the UAE transfer suggest the regional architecture is being staged in anticipation of a signing, even as Tehran refuses to commit to a date.

Trump’s tone shifts

The most striking development is the change in posture from the White House. As recently as this morning, the administration was pushing back against leaked terms that it said misrepresented the American position, particularly around Hormuz transit and inspection authority. By late afternoon, Trump had moved off rejection. Axios, as relayed by Middle East Monitor, reported the president told the outlet by phone that he considered Araghchi’s statement “very positive.”

That is the same Araghchi statement that committed Tehran, in writing, to language about ending the war on “all fronts” — language that, if it holds, would require Hezbollah and Iran-aligned militias in Iraq to stand down operations. The president’s read is also a signal to congressional skeptics that the White House regards the Iranian framing as compatible with what Washington can sell domestically.

Hormuz oil flows, market reaction

The diplomatic motion is reverberating in physical oil markets. US officials, including the Secretary of the Interior, told reporters that Hormuz oil flows are reaching roughly half of pre-war levels — a recovery from the near-total disruption that followed the opening salvos of the conflict, but still far below the roughly 20 million barrels per day the strait moves in normal conditions. The half-recovery figure is being read by tanker operators as confirmation that Iranian and allied forces are no longer interdicting commercial traffic, even though formal transit guarantees have not been published.

Crude has responded. Brent has slid through the session on the combination of the Hormuz throughput data and the Araghchi statement, extending a multi-day decline that began when the ceasefire framework first leaked. Equity markets, by contrast, have remained range-bound, with traders pricing the deal as more likely than not but unwilling to chase a rally before a signing date is announced.

What to watch

Three signals will tell the story over the next 72 hours.

First, the signing venue. Switzerland’s offer is on the table; if Tehran accepts publicly, that is the strongest indicator yet that the regime is preparing to sign. A counter-offer of Doha, Muscat, or a neutral capital outside Europe would suggest the talks have hit a snag over optics.

Second, the UAE money. If billions begin moving — even tranches — into Iranian-controlled accounts in advance of a signing, it confirms the deal is being executed in stages rather than at a single ceremony. Tracking those flows, which clear through correspondent banking and are visible in SWIFT-adjacent reporting, will be the cleanest real-time tell.

Third, the proxies. Tehran’s “all fronts” language commits Hezbollah and the Iran-aligned militias in Iraq and Yemen to a posture they have not yet publicly accepted. Statements — or, more tellingly, the absence of operations — from those formations over the weekend will reveal whether Araghchi was speaking for the Axis or only for Tehran. The same dynamic broke down earlier this week when Iran walked back deal language as Hormuz incidents continued; a repeat would unwind much of Friday’s progress.

A deal that releases frozen funds, ends Lebanon’s war, and is signed in Bern would represent the most significant US-Iran agreement since the 2015 JCPOA . None of those three conditions has been confirmed by both parties on the record. All three are now, for the first time, on the table at the same time.