Image Source: Anadolu Ajansi
World – Iran and the United States have reached an agreement on a roadmap to a final deal aimed at ending the war within 60 days, mediators Qatar and Pakistan announced in a joint statement on Monday.
The statement followed the conclusion of the first high-level committee meeting held under the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, which brought together representatives from Iran, the United States, and the two mediating nations at the Lake Lucerne Summit in Burgenstock, Switzerland.
Representatives from Iran, the US, Qatar and Pakistan spent the session reviewing how the talks have moved since the Islamabad memorandum was signed. Among the outcomes, mediators pointed to the tone of the meeting itself as a marker of progress.
“The Lake Lucerne Summit was conducted in a positive and constructive atmosphere. Encouraging progress has been made, including the creation of a mechanism for further technical talks,” the statement read.
A High Level Committee has now been set up to oversee the process, sitting above the negotiating teams themselves. Three working groups answer to it, each handling a different strand of the dispute — nuclear, sanctions, and monitoring and dispute resolution.
“Chief negotiators will report regularly to the High Level Committee and lead working groups focused on nuclear, sanctions, and a monitoring and dispute resolution group to ensure the effective implementation of the MoU, and on other matters,” the statement said.
Roadmap Sets 60-Day Window for Final Deal
That committee has also been handed a fixed timeframe to work within, rather than being left to negotiate without an endpoint in sight. 60 days now stands as the marker against which progress will be judged. Technical talks are set to resume almost immediately on the back of it.
“The High Level Committee has agreed upon a roadmap towards reaching a final deal within 60 days, laying the foundation for the immediate commencement of further technical talks,” the statement read.
A communication channel has also been established between the parties for the duration of that window, intended to prevent incidents and misunderstandings and to support the safe passage of commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz. The parties also agreed to establish a de-confliction cell involving Lebanon to ensure that the halt in military operations there is sustained.
Pakistan and Qatar said they would keep working to push the talks towards a final agreement, thanking Iran and the US for staying committed to diplomacy and acknowledging other countries that have supported the negotiations.
