Updated June 13, 2026 at 1:39 AM CDT
The U.S. and Iran appeared closer to reaching a peace deal on Friday, as a sequence a social media posts signaled progress is being made.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a afternoon post on X that he could "confirm that a final, agreed upon text of the peace deal has been reached and Pakistan is now working closely with both sides to finalize the next steps." Pakistan has taken the lead in mediation efforts.
"Peace has never been this close as it is now," Sharif added.
Also on Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on X: "The Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding has never been closer." President Donald Trump, who has said multiple times the countries are on the verge of a deal, shared Araghchi's post on his own social media.
Trump had said on Thursday he was canceling strikes on Iran and that a peace deal was imminent. It was the latest salvo in a series of whiplash proclamations threatening more strikes and promising peace.
"Based on the fact that discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran have been brought to the highest level of Iranian leadership and approved, I have, as President of the United States of America, cancelled the scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran this evening," he wrote on Truth Social.
"The Naval Blockade will remain in full force and effect until this Transaction is finalized — Time and place of the signing to be announced shortly," he added.
Trump said later on Thursday, in the Oval Office: "We should get done over the next few days. We're going to have a signing, maybe in Europe, and it's a great thing."
Trump was asked if they secured an agreement on nuclear issues and he said "yes, conceptually."
In recent days, Trump had again been amping up his war rhetoric. Earlier Thursday morning, the president had said that the U.S. will attack Iran "VERY HARD TONIGHT," while almost simultaneously telling Fox News the two sides are still negotiating.
Trump posted that the U.S. would also seize vital Iranian oil infrastructure, including Kharg Island, "at some point in the not too distant future."
The island, a key oil infrastructure site for Iran, has long been on the U.S. military's radar as a strategic target but carries a high potential for U.S. casualties.
"My preference has always been (to) take Kharg Island," Trump said on Fox News, adding later. "But I don't know that America has the stomach."
But in his Oval Office remarks, Trump said the deal was so close that the time and place of the signing would be announced shortly.
The conflicting statements come as Trump tries to pressure Iran into submission as inflation hits the highest number in years and his popularity remains at a low point.
It's clear that Trump wants the war to be over
Jennifer Stromer-Galley, a professor of information studies at Syracuse University, says there are also so many other things out of his control.
"I think from a rhetorical perspective, Trump is still trying to manufacture reality that he wants to be true, but it comes up against the actual state of affairs that he doesn't have much control over at the end of the day," she said.
She said it's also about assuring Americans that it's going to work out like he promised if he just has a little more time to end the war. The challenge is gas prices keep going up. Electricity is getting more expensive. And after weeks of hearing the same thing, polls show Americans are losing confidence in the message.
After more than three months of war, Iran has effectively shut down the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway through which about 20% of the world's energy supply travels.
A volatile ceasefire has been in place since April, but the two sides have been increasingly striking each other's targets as Trump has grown frustrated about the lack of a deal.
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