President Donald Trump signed a physical copy of a 14-point memorandum of understanding with Iran at the Palace of Versailles on Wednesday, capping days of secret negotiations with a wartime agreement that aims to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, halt hostilities on all fronts, and set a 60-day clock for a final nuclear deal. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian counter-signed remotely, and Iran's state news agency IRNA posted images of him holding the document bearing both leaders' signatures.
"It's signed, yeah. We signed it in Versailles. We signed it," Trump told reporters as he departed a dinner hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron, the Washington Examiner reported. Macron posted video of the moment to social media, in which Trump said simply: "This was not easy."
It wasn't. The United States and Israel went to war against Iran on February 28, with Tehran's nuclear program cited as the principal reason. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the chokepoint for a vast share of the world's oil and natural gas, triggered what officials described as a historic energy crisis, driving up fuel and food prices worldwide. Trump himself cited the imminent depletion of global oil reserves within weeks and the risk of a 1929-style economic depression as motivations for reaching terms.
The text of the agreement had not been formally released as of publication. U.S. officials dictated draft language to journalists after days of secrecy, speaking on condition of anonymity. Iranian state television later released its own version, which largely tracked the American text.
The core terms are sweeping. Point 1 calls for an immediate and permanent end to the war on all fronts, including Lebanon. Point 2 commits both nations to respect each other's sovereignty and refrain from interfering in internal affairs. Point 3 sets the 60-day window, extendable by mutual consent, for a final agreement.
On the economic front, the United States agreed to lift its naval blockade on Iranian ports and restore traffic to full capacity within 30 days. Iran, in turn, committed to ensuring merchant ship movement from the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman returns to prewar volume within the same timeframe. The strait opens without tolls for two months, though the deal does not preclude future fees.
The financial concessions are significant. The U.S. Treasury will issue waivers allowing Iran to freely sell crude oil, petrochemical products, and all related services, a step that goes beyond the 2015 Obama-era nuclear deal, which only lifted some sanctions in exchange for enrichment reductions. Iran's frozen or restricted funds and assets will be released. All categories of U.S. sanctions are to be eventually ended, though the schedule remains to be negotiated.
Point 6 envisions a $300 billion rehabilitation and economic development plan for Iran. Trump reiterated that the United States would not contribute and said it was up to other countries if they wanted to invest. Vice President JD Vance has indicated Gulf Arab nations would provide the funding, though no Gulf state has publicly confirmed a commitment.
On the nuclear question, the issue that started the war, Iran must reiterate it will never produce nuclear weapons and maintain the status quo on its program while talks continue. The International Atomic Energy Agency would monitor the "downblending" of Iran's enriched uranium. Iran remains the only country to enrich uranium to 60% purity without a weapons program, per the IAEA. The final agreement, if reached, would be approved through a binding UN Security Council resolution.
As we previously reported, Trump has made clear the memorandum is not the final word. He put it bluntly: "It's a memorandum of understanding, and if I don't like it, we'll go back to shooting at them, dropping bombs."
Trump and Vance digitally signed the MOU over the weekend before the physical ceremony at Versailles. Trump was in France for the G7 summit, where he made headlines Tuesday for calling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "crazy" and declaring, "Without me, there would be no Israel."
The White House had originally planned a formal signing ceremony in Switzerland on Friday, but its fate remains uncertain amid conflicting signals from the U.S., Iran, and Pakistan. The impromptu Versailles signing, at a palace where many historic agreements have been executed over the centuries, appears to have overtaken that plan.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio stood at Trump's side. After signing, Trump handed the document and pen to Rubio as those in the room applauded. IRNA described Pezeshkian as "stone-faced" when he signed in Tehran.
The night before the signing, Iran's parliamentary speaker and key negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf struck a very different tone, telling state broadcaster Fars that "if the enemy does not understand the language of logic, we will enter again with the language of power." He warned that Iran's "finger is on the trigger."
Fox News reported that Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei publicly acknowledged he personally opposed the MOU but ultimately approved it after Pezeshkian pledged to safeguard Iranian interests. Khamenei framed the deal as a product of American desperation rather than Iranian concession, claiming Trump pushed for it "out of desperation" and used "all kinds of leverage."
That framing is predictable from Tehran. What matters more is whether the terms hold.
Oil prices fell over 3% after the deal was signed. Crude dropped to three-month lows on the prospect of the strait reopening, and broader markets rallied. Iran's oil export revenues in 2024 exceeded $46 billion, with China as its main buyer, widely believed to have purchased at below-market prices because of its willingness to ignore sanctions.
The political reaction split along predictable lines, with a few notable exceptions. Senator Lindsey Graham, one of Trump's closest allies, softened his view after what he described as a "very lengthy and productive" conversation with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff.
Graham wrote on social media:
"After this discussion, it is my opinion that signing the MOU will be beneficial to the United States, in as much as the strait of Hormuz will begin to open, and the hostilities with Iran will stop."
But other Republicans were far less supportive. Senator Ted Cruz said Trump was getting "very poor advice" on the deal. Senator Bill Cassidy was sharper still.
Cassidy wrote:
"Reagan is rolling over in his grave. Iran's nuclear ambitions were not curbed, and they have learned that threatening the strait of Hormuz works and will undoubtedly leverage it in the future."
That criticism carries weight. The MOU asks Iran to "reiterate" it will never build nuclear weapons and maintain the status quo on its program, but it does not require Iran to dismantle centrifuges, surrender enriched material immediately, or submit to the kind of intrusive verification regime that skeptics believe is necessary. The 60-day window for a final deal is where those details must be hammered out. If they aren't, the memorandum becomes a ceasefire with an expiration date.
As Vice President Vance has confirmed, nuclear inspectors will return to Iran as part of the framework, a step in the right direction. But returning inspectors is not the same as a verified dismantlement. Iran has in principle agreed to curb enrichment efforts and expand cooperation with IAEA inspectors, Newsmax reported, as part of a verification-based process tied to future sanctions relief. The devil, as always, is in the details Iran has yet to deliver.
Perhaps the most consequential subplot is Israel's position. An Israeli government official told NBC News that Netanyahu's government was not shown the MOU before it was signed. Israel rejected Iran's condition that it withdraw from Lebanon, and Netanyahu maintains Israel will continue to defend itself and occupy parts of that country.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid seized on the moment:
"Netanyahu promised us a historic victory, and we got a crisis with the Americans, Hormuz open to the Iranians, money for the Revolutionary Guards, ballistic missiles aimed at Israel, and Israel waiting in the corridor like a scolded child."
Danny Citrinowicz, a former head of the Iran branch of Israeli military intelligence, offered a more measured read. He said the deal showed that "before events spiraled completely out of control, the US administration stepped back from maximalist objectives and returned to a more measured and realistic approach."
Former Obama and Biden administration official Susan Rice called it "the biggest national security blunder in decades." That assessment is rich coming from someone who helped architect the 2015 JCPOA, a deal Trump withdrew from in his first term precisely because it failed to curb Iran's broader ambitions. Obama himself has expressed skepticism that Trump's approach could improve on his own, but the record of the JCPOA speaks for itself: Iran enriched to 60% purity on its watch.
Trump was blunt about the stakes. He warned he would "bomb the h***" out of Iran if no final deal emerged. He also told reporters that continuing the war indefinitely would never have reopened the strait: "If we didn't do this deal, we could have dropped more bombs for another three weeks, two weeks, four weeks, two years. You would never have the Hormuz Strait open."
That is the hard calculus. The Strait of Hormuz closure was inflicting real damage on ordinary people, higher energy prices, more expensive food, a global economy lurching toward crisis. Ending that pain required a deal. The question is whether this deal ends the pain permanently or merely delays it.
The AP confirmed the agreement takes immediate effect, and the sanctions waivers represent a major concession, going further than the 2015 deal ever did. Iran gets to sell its oil freely. Its frozen assets get released. A $300 billion reconstruction fund is on the table. In exchange, the world gets a promise and a 60-day clock.
The memorandum is now in effect. The ceasefire is real. The strait should begin reopening. But the hardest part, verifiable nuclear concessions, enforceable commitments, a deal that doesn't simply hand Iran leverage for the next confrontation, starts now.
As the lead-up to this signing showed, Tehran signals caution when it suits and aggression when it doesn't. Sixty days will tell us which Iran showed up to this deal, and whether the concessions America just made will buy lasting peace or just a pause.
Promises from Tehran have a shelf life. The next two months will reveal whether this one is any different.
