Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Sunday he hoped his country could soon host the next round of peace talks between Iran and the United States.

The United States and Iran sought on Sunday to finalize an agreement to formally end the Middle East war after Donald Trump said a proposal that included opening the blockaded Strait of Hormuz was "largely negotiated".

Tehran accused the United States of "excessive demands", Iranian media said on Saturday, as U.S. media reports raised the prospect that Washington was mulling new strikes and leaders of the Islamic republic considered the latest peace proposal.

The Trump administration was preparing Friday for a fresh round of military strikes against Iran, sources with direct knowledge of the planning told U.S. TV network CBS, even as diplomacy continued.

Italy, France, Britain and Germany urged Israel on Friday to stop expanding its settlements in the West Bank, condemning settler violence and warning construction companies not to bid for tenders.

"We call on the government of Israel to end its expansion of settlements and administrative powers, ensure accountability for settler violence and investigate allegations against Israeli forces," said the countries in a joint statement, noting that violence against Palestinians by settlers was at "unprecedented levels".

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday there was "slight progress" during talks with Iran amid uncertainty as to whether a deal will be reached or war will resume.

He spoke days after U.S. President Donald Trump said he was holding off on a military strike on Iran because "serious negotiations" were underway. Trump has been threatening for weeks that the ceasefire reached in mid-April could end if Iran does not make a deal, with shifting parameters for striking such an agreement.

The final draft of a possible agreement between the United States and Iran, mediated by Pakistan, is expected to be announced within hours, Al-Arabiya quoted sources as saying on Friday.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio voiced hope on Thursday of progress on ending the war with Iran, with mediator Pakistan's army chief due to arrive in the Islamic republic for talks.

The expected visit by Field Marshal Asim Munir, a powerful figure with a growing role in Pakistan's foreign relations, comes a day after U.S. President Donald Trump warned that negotiations to end the war were on the "borderline" between a deal and renewed strikes.

A top UAE official denounced Iran's claim of control over Emirati waters in the blockaded Strait of Hormuz as a "pipe dream" Thursday, following an announcement by an Iranian body overseeing the strait.

"The regime is trying to establish a new reality born from a clear military defeat, but attempts to control the Strait of Hormuz or infringe on the UAE's maritime sovereignty are nothing but pipe dreams," said the United Arab Emirates' presidential advisor Anwar Gargash in a post on X.

Israel has released hundreds of activists who attempted to breach Israel's naval blockade of Gaza and are in the process of deporting them, according to a legal organization working with the flotilla.

The Israel-based legal advocacy group, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, or Adalah, said Thursday that most of the international activists are in transit to a civilian airport near the southern Israeli city of Eilat for deportation.