Axios: US and Iran nearing one-page MOU to end war, start 30 days of nuclear talks

6 May 2026, 12:26 pm

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A handout picture provided by the Iranian Foreign Ministry on February 26, 2026, shows Iranian diplomats and delegation during the Iran and US talks in Geneva, Switzerland. (IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY / AFP)

The White House believes it’s nearing a one-page memorandum of understanding with Iran to end the war and lay out a framework for talks on the regime’s nuclear program, Axios reports, citing two US officials and two other sources briefed on the issue.

The US expects a response from the Islamic Republic within the next 48 hours, according to the outlet.

It says the proposal consists of 14 points, and is being crafted by Trump’s Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff and the president’s aide and son-in-law Jared Kushner, in collaboration with several Iranian officials.

The plan would reportedly declare an end to the war and trigger a 30-day negotiation period, in pursuit of an agreement to open the Strait of Hormuz, limit Iran’s nuclear program, and lift US sanctions on the regime.

The US is reportedly seeking a moratorium on all uranium enrichment by Iran for 12-15 years, with a provision that would extend the moratorium if Iran were found to have violated it.

At the end of the negotiated period, the Islamic Republic would be allowed to enrich to the low, civilian-use level of 3.67%, while committing never to seek a nuclear weapon, or to carry out activities related to the development of nuclear weapons, and to submit to enhanced inspections, including snap inspections by the UN.

A cleric and other people pray at the graves of Iranian nuclear scientists, their families and a Revolutionary Guard commander who were mainly killed in Israeli strikes in June 2025, at the shrine of Saint Saleh during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan in northern Tehran, Iran, on February 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Axios reports, citing “two sources with knowledge,” that Iran would agree to remove its existing stockpile of highly enriched uranium, with negotiators floating moving the material to the US.

A clause being negotiated would require Iran to commit not to operate underground nuclear facilities.

So long as the talks proceed, Iran and the US would gradually ease their operations in the Strait of Hormuz, to allow shipping through the waterway and trade through Iranian ports, the report says.

In return for Iran’s concessions on the nuclear issue, the US would gradually lift sanctions on Iran. Tens of billions of Iranian assets worldwide would gradually be unfrozen.

But if negotiations collapse or fail to reach a deal, the US could restore the blockade or resume the war, according to a US official.

The report cautions that “nothing has been agreed yet,” but sources describe the current process as the closest the two sides have come to an agreement since the war started with joint American and Israeli airstrikes on February 28.