Mediators Propose 10-Day Ceasefire to Revive Stalled Iran-US Interim Deal

Mediators have passed Iran a proposal to de-escalate its war with the United States that would offer a 10-day ceasefire to find ways to revive an interim deal reached last month, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Monday.

The proposal seeks to salvage a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that Iran and the US had signed last month, which US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian formally signed on June 17.

That MOU had included a 60-day ceasefire pausing the war that broke out with US-Israeli strikes targeting the Iranian regime in late February, along with the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and a timeframe for a final deal to permanently end the conflict and reach an agreement on Iran's nuclear program.

That ceasefire, however, has since collapsed. Earlier this month, following Iranian attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, the US launched fresh strikes on Iran, with US Central Command saying Tehran had violated the terms of the truce. President Trump declared on Truth Social on July 10 that the US had agreed to continue talks with Iran but stated "in no uncertain terms, that the Cease Fire is OVER!"

He also warned that "1,000 Missiles are Locked and Loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran, with thousands of more to immediately follow," should Tehran act on threats to target him following the funeral of former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The fighting has continued in the days since. As of Monday, the US had struck Iran for a ninth straight night, with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launching retaliatory attacks on Syria, Kuwait and Bahrain. Amid the renewed hostilities, President Pezeshkian said Iran was now in a "full-scale war" with the US. "The reality is that today the Islamic Republic of Iran is engaged in a full-scale war," Pezeshkian said, adding that "we must be realistic and accept the natural consequences of this resistance," according to a presidency statement.

It is against this backdrop that mediators have now presented Iran with the fresh 10-day ceasefire proposal, aimed at creating space to revive the June MOU rather than negotiate an entirely new framework.