WASHINGTON – The Trump administration shared the details of the preliminary agreement to end the war with Iran on Wednesday, as President Trump took questions from reporters in Evian, France, at a press conference that capped off his visit to the G7 summit.
Senior administration officials, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity, read the agreement in its entirety. Iran has not released any details yet. Trump had announced the two sides struck an agreement on Sunday but the specifics of the plan had not been made public until Wednesday – causing a lot of speculation and confusion about what is and isn’t outlined in the framework.
As expected, the entire document is fairly short and light on details, with much left to be sorted out in future negotiations. According to the document read by the senior administration official, the U.S. and Iran declare “the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts” – including in Lebanon. The two sides also promise “not to initiate” any further war or operation against each other.
It sets out a 60-day period – extendable if both sides agree – to negotiate a final deal.
Upon signing, which Trump says will take place in the coming days, the agreement says the U.S. will begin the removal of its naval blockade and will “fully end” the blockade within 30 days if a final deal is reached.
Iran, according to the agreement, will use its “best efforts” to ensure the safe passage of commercial vessels traveling between the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman. Those vessels would not be charged for 60 days.
The U.S. will work with regional partners to create a fund of up to $300 billion for reconstruction and economic development for Iran, according to the framework. Trump, during his press conference, said the U.S. would not be directly contributing to this fund, though he did say it may be possible for other countries to invest in Iran. The U.S. will also lift its sanctions against Iran as a part of reaching a final deal, according to the agreement.
Finally, the framework says Iran will not “procure or develop nuclear weapons” and the U.S. and Iran agree to make a plan to find a resolution to what happens to the stockpile of enriched uranium that Iran has that’s deep underground.
The agreement also states that while sanctions will officially remain in place until a final deal is struck, the U.S. will issue waivers for the export of Iranian oil, petroleum and derivatives – including banking transactions, insurance and transportation.
The U.S. will also “make fully available” frozen or restricted Iranian funds when a final deal is struck.
Other issues to be negotiated in a final deal, according to the framework, are how to monitor implementation and future compliance.
Trump’s press conference in Evian was meandering, but on the agreement he said that Iran will “work closely” with the U.S. to turn over enriched material.
“When we have a chance, we’ll do it, but in the meantime, we have cameras on every inch of it. Nobody can do it, and if they do, we’ll hit them with Patriots,” Trump told reporters, referring to the military missiles.
He said the two sides would begin the technical discussions on the nuclear issues immediately and that any economic relief for Iran as a result of the deal will be “based on merit, and it won’t be from us.”
Trump painted the agreement as necessary for the economy.
“If we didn’t do this deal, we could have dropped more bombs for another three weeks, two weeks, four weeks, two years,” he said but added that if that happened, the Strait of Hormuz would not have reopened.
“You would never have success. Your market… would go down at levels that nobody ever saw before,” he said.
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said that the memorandum of understanding digitally signed this week with Iran is “not final,” warning that Washington would resume military strikes against Iran if “they don’t behave” and adding that a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz was unavoidable.
Referring to the preliminary agreement with Tehran expected to be physically signed in Switzerland on Friday, Trump reiterated that “it’s not final – it’s a memorandum of understanding,” and that Washington’s military threat remains in place.
“It’s a memorandum of understanding. If I don’t like it, if they don’t behave, we’ll go right back to dropping bombs right smack in the middle of their head, okay? Because they’ve misbehaved for 47 years,” he warned, speaking alongside Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi at the G7 summit in France.
Also Trump praised Pakistan and Qatar for their role in helping advance diplomacy between the United States and Iran, describing both countries as key partners in the effort to secure a peace agreement expected to be signed in the coming days. Lahore police unveils comprehensive Muharram security plan for 458 processions Speaking after the G7 summit, Trump thanked the countries that helped facilitate contacts during months of negotiations. “I want to thank our partners, both Pakistan and Qatar. These people worked so hard,” he said. “I know them a little bit. In the case of Pakistan, quite well.” Trump said he opposed calls to strip Iran of all of its ballistic missiles. Speaking at a press conference, Trump said the US and Iran will discuss the latter’s missile program in the upcoming negotiations following this week’s MOU signing. “They have to have some (missiles) because other people have some. You gotta have some,” Trump says.
“Somebody said, ‘You shouldn’t give [Iran] one,’” Trump says in a mocking tone.
“I have guys – I like some of these guys, but I don’t think they’re smart,” he says, appearing to refer to his hawkish advisers and supporters.
“‘They’re going to let Saudi Arabia have missiles, but [Iran] can’t have them?” Trump continues. “It doesn’t work that way.”
“And missiles aren’t the problem… They hurt a little location, but they don’t blow up the planet,” Trump says, downplaying yet another demand by Israel.
Also, Trump defended the MOU he reached with Iran on Sunday, arguing that resuming bombing against Iran would have caused “economic catastrophe.”
Trump again downplayed the importance of obtaining Iran’s stockpiles of highly enriched uranium, claiming that Tehran can’t access them anyway.
He again claims that the “nuclear dust” is buried deep under rubble after the US bombed Iran’s three main nuclear sites last year. He says only the US and China have the equipment to reach it.
“It’s actually not valuable, but we’d like to get it psychologically,” Trump says.
“Nobody’s touching it. We also have Space Force cameras” monitoring the sites, he claims.
It has not been publicly confirmed that the stockpiles are actually located in one of those three sites. Iran is also said to have other stockpiles of uranium enriched to lower levels, which can also be turned into a nuclear weapon, located elsewhere.
“If somebody walks in and he’s got a badge with his name on it – like Mohammed something, which is about a 50-50 guess, (the Space Force cameras) can tell the name and serial number,” Trump says during a press conference at a G7 summit.
Washington, Tehran, and mediators are considering holding an electronic signing of the US-Iran memorandum of understanding as early as today, rather than at an in-person signing ceremony in Switzerland on Friday, a diplomat from one of the mediating countries and a second source familiar with the discussions tell the Axios news site.
Both sides are seeking to bring the signing up to have the Strait of Hormuz reopened sooner, the diplomatic source says.
Axios notes that a likely reason for the move is so the US is able to release the text of the agreement amid political pressure over its reported details, though the second source denies that that is Washington’s reasoning.
Although a senior administration official told reporters earlier this week that the deal was already signed electronically on Sunday by US President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Ghalibaf, one of the diplomatic sources claims that no such signing took place.
A second source disputes this, telling Axios that it would be a “second signing.”
The outlet notes that it is unclear why two digital signings would be necessary.
Even if the ceremony is cancelled in favor of a remote signing, the sources tell Axios that the planned meeting between the US and Iranian delegations headed by US Vice President JD Vance and Iranian parliamentary speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf will take place in Switzerland on Friday as expected. Pakistani artist honoured in Shanghai for contributions to traditional Fine Arts
