Less than six hours before the expiration of the 20:00 deadline (2:00 am, Spanish peninsular time), negotiations between the United States and Iran have registered an unexpected advance that has changed the climate in the White House. According to sources familiar with the contacts cited by Axios, the Trump Administration's approach has gone from questioning the viability of an agreement to focusing on a race against time to close the pact before midnight.
The axis of the negotiation now focuses on a series of confidence measures that would allow the immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for mutual guarantees of cessation of hostilities and a technical truce of 45 days to negotiate a lasting peace agreement.
Counterproposal
Despite the harsh threats published by Trump on his social network, where he has warned about the destruction of "an entire civilization", the mediators from Pakistan, Egypt, and Turkey have managed to get Tehran to send a counterproposal which the American team describes as "better than expected".
The Vice President of the United States J.D. Vance has confirmed from Budapest that the military objectives are practically met and that the ball is now in Iran's court.
The international community observes with caution this last-minute rapprochement, while direct channels between envoy Steve Witkoff and Minister Araghchi try to bridge the gaps on security guarantees before the ultimatum turns into an unprecedented military escalation.