Draft MoU Details Leak as Tehran Says Decision 'Under Consideration'

A senior Iranian official told Reuters the final draft of the memorandum of understanding with the United States covers Tehran’s immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, an asset-release component, and a 60-day window for follow-on negotiations, according to a report carried by Middle East Eye on Sunday morning. A separate Iranian source told Fars News Agency the country’s final decision on the memorandum is still “under consideration,” with political, legal, and technical reviews ongoing.

The two reports, published hours apart, narrow the substantive content of the agreement that Vice President JD Vance is reportedly preparing to sign in Geneva while leaving the question of when an Iranian counterpart will sit across from him unresolved. They are the first on-record Iranian descriptions of the MoU’s contents since Pakistan’s foreign ministry said on Friday that a final text had been agreed.

What the draft reportedly contains

The Iranian official cited by Reuters described a document structured as a political instrument with a defined follow-on negotiation window. The Strait of Hormuz provision is the lead item: Tehran would immediately reopen the strait, which US officials have described as running at roughly half of pre-war levels under nightly US Navy escort. The asset-release component aligns with the Switzerland-hosted frozen-funds mechanism that anchored Geneva as the signing venue.

The 60-day follow-on window is the structural feature that matches the previously reported Islamabad technical track, where verification mechanics, the scope of unfrozen funds, and naval-posture changes were expected to be translated from political language into operational instructions. Under the draft as described, the memorandum is the political envelope; the 60-day window is the working calendar.

The nuclear file is included in the draft’s scope but, on the Iranian account, in the form of limits to be elaborated during the follow-on period — consistent with the post-accord sequencing a US official described to Middle East Eye earlier this week.

Tehran’s parallel “under review” message

The Fars-attributed source said Iran “has not yet announced its final decision on the proposed memorandum of understanding” and that “the review of the political, legal, and technical dimensions of the proposals is still ongoing.” Iranian state media outlets typically publish such formulations when the political leadership has not yet released the negotiating team to sign.

The two-track public messaging — a senior official describing the contents to a Western wire service while a state-linked outlet says no decision has been taken — is consistent with the choreography Iranian governments have used in past commitments to international instruments. It allows Tehran to keep the substance moving in the foreign press while reserving the moment of commitment for a domestic audience.

What it does not do is resolve the question of who will sign opposite Vance or when. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has been the only senior Iranian official describing the substance in public, but Tehran has not named him as the designated signatory.

Qatari mediation track

A Qatari delegation met with senior Iranian officials in Tehran as part of mediation efforts with the United States, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Sunday. The presence of a Qatari channel in addition to the Pakistani and Omani tracks reported earlier this cycle widens the set of intermediaries Tehran is using to clarify US positions in the final hours before a possible signing.

The Qatari role is consistent with Doha’s earlier mediation on Gaza and on the December 2025 prisoner exchange. It does not displace the Islamabad track, which the Wall Street Journal account described as the venue for technical follow-on. It supplements it on the political side, particularly on the asset-release figures.

The competing timelines

President Trump told reporters this week that the deal could be signed as early as Sunday. Al Jazeera summarised the gap in a Sunday morning piece headlined “Will the US-Iran deal be signed on Sunday? What we know so far,” which notes that Tehran disputes the timeline even as US officials prepare the ceremony.

A senior adviser to the supreme leader previously claimed in public that Trump agreed to release $24 billion in Iranian assets, a figure the US has not confirmed. Neither the Reuters-sourced account nor the Fars-attributed source attached a number to the asset-release component described in the draft.

Israeli opposition reaction

Former Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said Saturday that the emerging deal would fail to meet any of Israel’s war objectives, in a statement carried by Anadolu. Lapid said the Iranian government would remain in power and its missile programme would be preserved under the framework as described. The statement is the most direct on-record criticism from a senior Israeli political figure since the Axios report that Trump told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stand down on a planned Israeli strike.

The Lapid intervention does not affect the Geneva calendar but it documents the political cost the Israeli opposition is preparing to attach to the deal once signed.

What still has to land before Sunday evening UTC

For a Sunday signing to hold, Tehran has to produce a public confirmation of the signatory, the Iranian central bank or foreign ministry has to put a number on the asset-release figure that the press can attribute to the Iranian state, and the Fars-channel “under consideration” framing has to be replaced by a state-media statement that endorses the memorandum. None of those steps had been taken by Sunday midday Tehran time.

The desk is watching the gap between the Reuters-sourced substance and the Fars-sourced timeline through Sunday afternoon UTC. The substance, on the available reporting, is converging. The timing is not.

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Mariam Khalil covers Iran and the wider Middle East for the America Strikes Desk.