Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif postponed a planned trip to Switzerland on June 18, 2026, after Iran and the United States electronically signed an agreement that Pakistan had helped mediate. Officials did not say whether the delay was temporary or part of a broader change to the diplomatic schedule surrounding implementation of the reported deal.
Sharif had been expected to travel in his capacity as a mediator. Pakistani communications described the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding as signed by the US and Iranian presidents and endorsed by Sharif. The account said the arrangement took effect immediately and included initial steps for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and for the United States to lift its naval blockade.
The prime minister credited Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt with supporting the negotiating framework. He also acknowledged senior American and Iranian representatives involved in the process. The reported agreement followed a period of military exchanges that began with US and Israeli operations in late February and prompted Iranian missile and drone responses across the region. Those hostilities disrupted a waterway central to global energy trade.
Signals from Tehran were more guarded. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said no final decision had been made about a Switzerland visit associated with the negotiations. He also said Iran had not decided whether to send a delegation to separate discussions in Brussels. If Tehran did attend future talks, Baqaei said, parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf would lead its delegation.
Baqaei presented the Strait of Hormuz as an Iranian security responsibility and argued that outside involvement could complicate the situation. That position qualified the Pakistani account of immediate implementation, showing that the signing had not settled the parties’ public descriptions of maritime arrangements or their next diplomatic steps.
Details circulated with the memorandum also described prospective later provisions. They included relief from US oil sanctions and, after a final nuclear agreement, American support for a reconstruction fund reportedly worth about $300 billion and backed by regional partners. Those elements were presented as part of the reported framework rather than completed measures.
US President Donald Trump was reported to have signed at the Palace of Versailles after a Group of Seven summit, with French President Emmanuel Macron and other officials present. Iranian representatives similarly acknowledged completion at presidential level, according to the supplied account.
The postponement therefore reflected a rapidly changing process rather than the cancellation of diplomacy. An agreement had reportedly been concluded remotely, but itineraries, delegation decisions and the interpretation of commitments remained unsettled. Sharif’s role as mediator continued to connect Pakistan to the implementation phase even without the planned departure for Switzerland that day.
