The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif, on Thursday signed the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding as the guarantor to the US-Iran peace agreement, his office confirmed, a day before a formal
ratification ceremony scheduled in Switzerland.
US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian had already signed the document on Wednesday.
Sharif’s office posted on X that both Trump’s and Pezeshkian’s signatures were present on the document at the time of his signing. The Prime Minister’s Office also released photographs and videos of the signing.
Islamabad :18 June 2026.
Prime Minister of Pakistan Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif signed the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (Islamabad MoU)، as mediator.
The Islamabad MOU has been signed by President of USA Donald J. Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. pic.twitter.com/M0LKK9XoK8
— Prime Minister’s Office (@PakPMO) June 18, 2026
Under the terms announced by PM Sharif, the MoU takes effect immediately. Iran will reopen the Strait of Hormuz and the United States will lift its naval blockade as the agreement’s first operative step.
The Strait of Hormuz has been effectively closed since 28 February, when the US and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran that triggered Iranian retaliatory action. Roughly one-fifth of the world’s total energy supplies pass through the waterway in normal times.
Sharif thanked Trump and Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei by name, crediting their decisions for the resolution. He also acknowledged US Vice President JD Vance, Special Envoy for West Asia Steve Witkoff and adviser Jared Kushner on the American side, and Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni on the Iranian side.
Pakistan hosted the first round of formal talks in April, which senior leaders from both sides attended but which produced no agreement.
A two-week ceasefire brokered on 8 April was subsequently extended to allow negotiations to continue. Qatar was the other named mediator. Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Egypt also received acknowledgement from Sharif for their contributions to the process.
Pakistan’s Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Asim Munir was separately cited by the Prime Minister as having played an instrumental role in the talks.
The Switzerland ceremony is scheduled for Friday and will bring together negotiators from the US, Iran, Pakistan and Qatar.
