Purported U.S.-Iran Memorandum Of Understanding Circulates, Including Lebanon War End And Strait Reopening

A purported U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding circulated Tuesday and, if authentic, would set out sweeping American concessions to Tehran while deferring the core dispute over Iran’s nuclear program to future negotiations.

“Tehran, Iran – The road leading to the signing the memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran has been difficult”

Al Jazeera

Ynetnews said the draft “outlines sweeping American concessions to Tehran,” including immediate oil sanctions waivers, a path to releasing frozen Iranian assets, and a $300 billion reconstruction plan, while leaving the nuclear issue to later talks.

Al Jazeera

i24NEWS said the published copy includes “end of war on all fronts including Lebanon” and “reopening of the Strait of Hormuz,” with a final agreement to be negotiated within 60 days.

The same i24NEWS account says that immediately upon MoU signing the U.S. would lift its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and restore vessel traffic within 30 days to full capacity proportional to pre-war volume, while Iran would take steps to resume merchant shipping between the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman within 30 days.

CNBC reported that Iran’s deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi said the text has been finalized and will be signed on Friday in Geneva, adding, “A permanent and immediate end to the war has been declared on all fronts.”

Israel’s ambassador to Washington, Yechiel Leiter, said Tuesday that Israel still does not know what the final document contains after the U.S. refused to share the final text, and the Reuters team at the scene of the talks reported the memorandum’s authenticity could not be independently verified.

Ynetnews reported that Leiter said Tuesday that “Israel still does not know what the final document contains,” while also noting that Israel asked the United States to see the final text but was refused.

Al-Jazeera Net

BBC described how Tehran’s leadership is trying to frame the emerging memorandum of understanding as victory, quoting Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, the Speaker of parliament, saying Iran had taken “a long step towards final victory.”

BBC also reported that the deal’s internal narrative is contested, including a hard-line MP who reportedly described the draft deal as “a document that would turn Iran into an American colony.”

Al Jazeera reported that factional differences inside Iran are expected to emerge during implementation, and it quoted IRGC commander Esmail Qaani telling state television, “Bab al-Mandeb Strait is fully in the hands of the guys in Hezbollah, the Ansarallah [Houthis] in Yemen.”

The memorandum’s next phase centers on whether the Strait of Hormuz reopens and whether sanctions relief and frozen assets are actually delivered, with CNBC saying the Strait is to be reopened as part of the deal and that “No deal has yet been signed.”

CNBC also reported that the agreement would extend the ceasefire for 60 days to create a framework for future negotiations about Iran’s nuclear program, sanctions, and regional security, while adding that the 60-day nuclear negotiations could only begin if the U.S. releases billions of dollars in frozen Iranian funds.

France 24 said mediators would continue meeting ahead of an official signing ceremony on Friday in Switzerland, and it reported that Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said the memorandum would then be published.

France 24 further reported that both sides said negotiations on more difficult further areas of dispute—“notably Iran’s nuclear ambitions and US sanctions on Iran”—will be conducted over the following 60 days.

Al Jazeera Net described how Iranian newspapers treated the understanding as a transitional station rather than a final end point, linking stopping the war, lifting the naval blockade, and opening the Strait of Hormuz to subsequent negotiations on unresolved files.