Tehran says efforts underway to restore Islamabad agreement

• Iran's Interior Ministry says diplomatic efforts and international mediation to return to the Islamabad agreement are continuing.
• Tehran wants the other party to meet its commitments under the deal.
• The agreement was approved by senior Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.
• The government points to the president's attendance at the Shanghai and BRICS meetings, along with intensive consultations, as evidence of active diplomacy.

Iran's Interior Ministry said on Saturday that work is under way to bring the Islamabad memorandum of understanding back on track. 

Ali Zeynivand, a spokesperson for the Interior Ministry, said that "efforts and international diplomatic mediations to resolve issues and return to the Islamabad agreement are ongoing."

Speaking at a news briefing, as reported by the semi-official Tasnim news agency, Zeynivand said Tehran expects the counterparty to honor its side of the deal. Iran wants "the other party adhere to its commitments in this agreement," he said. 

He added that the agreement had been approved at the top levels of the Iranian state, including by Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.

Zeynivand also pointed to the president's international schedule as part of the effort. "Active diplomacy continues with the president's participation in the Shanghai and BRICS meetings in India and Kyrgyzstan, and through intensive consultations," he said.

Background

The Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding was signed on June 18, 2026. It is a 14-point agreement that extended an April ceasefire by 60 days to give both sides time to negotiate a final truce. 

Pakistan mediated the deal. As a first step, Iran was to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and the United States was to lift its naval blockade.

The deal did not last. It collapsed in July after the US attacked Iran, accusing it of firing on commercial vessels in the strait.

 Iran denied the claim and retaliated by striking US bases in the Gulf. Reporting from late August says the two sides had gone weeks without trading attacks, but peace talks remained stalled amid continued threat.

Tehran has kept pressing Washington to comply. On Aug. 24, Iran's lead negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, told Pakistan's army chief and interior minister in Tehran that the US must adhere to its commitments under the deal. 

Another Iranian official said the memorandum had been violated by both the United States and ‘Israel’ "from day one".

 In early September, a different official said Iran would respond according to circumstances if the other side did not return to the memorandum.

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