Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron at the Palace of Versailles in France, June 17, 2026
EA on International Outlets: US-Iran — The “Deal” That Is Not A Deal
UPDATES: US-Israel Wars, Day 111 — Framework Deal Between Iran and US — But What Are The Terms?
UPDATE 0657 GMT:
More evidence of the widening division between Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu….
In a recent phone call about Israel’s war in Lebanon, Trump urged Netanyahu to “stop blowing up buildings”. He expressed frustration to his advisors that Netanyahu wants to “bomb everyone”, said “a person who heard the remarks”.
A “senior official in the administration” said Trump has grown tired of the Prime Minister’s constant requests for military action.
Bibi tells the President why he needs to blow something up, and why Israeli intelligence knows how to do it, and when to do it, and the President listens.
The calls are usually the same.
In another call, Trump expressed concern that the economic consequences of war on Irancould link him to the failures of US President Herbert Hoover leading to the Great Depression of the 1930s.
UPDATE 0607 GMT:
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius says that before Berlin can participate in any mine-clearing operation in the Strait of Hormuz, it will need a “permissive environment” – approval by Iran and Oman – as well as a parliamentary mandate.
UPDATE 0603 GMT:
An Israeli soldier has been killed and seven injured in southern Lebanon.
The Israel Defense Forces said Master Sergeant (Res.) Alexander Filin, 29, was killed in combat. Three of the injured are in “moderate” condition.
ORIGINAL ENTRY: Conceding to many of Tehran’s conditions, Donald Trump has signed the Memorandum of Understanding ending the US war on Iran.
Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian also signed the document.
Trump, declared his digital signature last Sunday to the surprise of senior advisors whom he had not consulted. He signed in person on Wednesday during a dinner, following the G7 summit, hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron at the Palace of Versailles.
Vice President J.D. Vance is expected to sign in a formal ceremony in Geneva on Friday.
Trump tried to cover his retreat by announcing a “great win” for the US. In fact, the 14-point document was based on an Irnaian document encompassing its demands.
The memo proclaims a ceasefire on all fronts, including Israel’s attacks on Lebanon. Iran’s pledges to reopen the Strait of Hormuz; however, in contrast to the pre-war status of transit under the UN Convention on the Law of the Seas, Tehran intends to manage the waterway with Oman, collecting fees.
In return for the resumption of transit through the Strait, the US immediately lifts its naval blockade on Iranian ports. Washington will issue sanctions waivers on Tehran’s oil, endorse the unfreezing of billions of dollars of Iranian asserts held abroad, and support a $300 billion fund for investment and reconstruction in Iran.
Contrary to spin by US officials that Iran had agreed to “destroy” its enriched uranium — and Trump’s earlier demand that the Iranians send all the fuel abroad — Tehran will downblend the uranium to a lower grade under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The details on Iran’s nuclear program will be left to a second stage in negotiations, following confirmation of the status of the Strait of Hormuz and the US financial arrangements benefitting Iran.
Trump effectively said that the economic consequences of the war had pushed him into acceptance of the terms: “The alternative would be a worldwide depression….The Strait would never have been opened.” He added, “There is nothing as smart as the market – and the market loves [the Memorandum].”
Iran Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf celebrated, “The agreement is a record of US failure. People will see it and judge.”
Ghalibaf declared that, after the 60-day toll-free period stipulated in the Memorandum, Iran will charge for transit through the Strait. It “will not return to pre-war conditions,” he asserted.
Trump also conceded other significant points to the Iranians. Tehran kept any limitation of its ballist They have to have some, because other people have some. You got to have some. What am I going to do? Am I going to let Saudi Arabia have missiles, but they can’t have them? Having repeatedly criticized the Obama Administration for the 2015 nuclear deal because it unfroze some Iranian assets, Trump defended the much larger return to Tehran under the Memorandum. We have taken a lot of their money. It’s not our money, it’s their money, and we froze it at a certain point in time. I guess we’re going to have to give it back. You know, if we didn’t give it back, nobody would ever invest in the dollar again.
