Mohamed Amersi, who is close to Iranian negotiators, says regime is prepared for long haul and will not give up its missile programme
3-MIN READ3-MIN25 ListenZuraidah IbrahimPublished: 5:00pm, 19 Apr 2026Updated: 4:10am, 20 Apr 2026The economic toll of war is pushing Iran to find a resolution to the hostilities beyond its fragile two-week truce with the US, according to a Middle East-focused think tank leader and businessman who is familiar with the status of the negotiations.However, as the two long-time enemies tried to stare each other down, the Iranian regime believed that their country’s “pain tolerance” was much higher than the Americans’ and this made it unlikely to blink first, he said.
In an interview with the South China Morning Post, Mohamed Amersi, a Britain-based Iranian and chairman of the Amersi Foundation, said the Iranians were still keen for a memorandum or framework of understanding to be settled as early as this week.
Such a deal would extend the Pakistan-brokered ceasefire beyond its expiration on Wednesday. This initial agreement would then pave the way for a more detailed pact to be concluded within two to three months.
“The expectation is that there should be an MOU next week, signed between Iran and the United States primarily. I am not sure Israel will be part of it, although the continued ceasefire in Lebanon will very much be a part of it.
“And that will then set the stage for a more detailed agreement which could take two to three months to finalise. And ideally these detailed points are likely to be centre stage at the forthcoming summit between President Xi [Jinping] and President [Donald] Trump in Beijing, if it happens,” Amersi, whose foundation tackles diplomacy and conflict resolution among other issues, said at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Turkey over the weekend.
