Biden’s Iran envoy says Trump’s MOU ‘preferable to any of the alternatives on offer’

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Former President Biden’s envoy on Iran said Wednesday the deal between the Trump administration and Tehran is “far preferable to any of the alternatives.”

Robert Malley, who also negotiated the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action between the U.S., Iran and multiple global powers, wrote on social platform X he does not “see much value” in “comparing” the two deals.

“They are fundamentally different agreements that emerged from starkly different contexts,” he added. “Best to leave that debate to hardline critics of both the 2015 deal and the current understanding, who seem perfectly capable of carrying it on themselves.

“The bottom line is that the MOU is far preferable to any of the alternatives on offer. Period.”

The administration on Wednesday released the terms of its memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Iran. The 14-point plan calls for an end to hostilities “on all fronts,” including with respect to the Israeli military campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Under the MOU, the U.S. would end its naval blockade of Iranian ports within 30 days. Iran, meanwhile, would reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 30 days.

The U.S. would also, along with regional partners, establish a $300 billion reconstruction fund for Iran. The administration would unfreeze Iranian assets and lift sanctions on the Middle Eastern country, including on its oil exports.

But Trump said Wednesday the U.S. is “not investing” in the $300 billion fund. During a press conference at the Group of Seven summit, the president added Tehran will only have access to the money “if they’re doing things right.”

The president also told reporters the 60-day period for negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program is not a hard deadline.

“[It] could take longer,” Trump said in Paris when asked if 60 days marked a final deadline.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have criticized the deal for, in their eyes, handing concessions to Iran.

Trump indicated earlier this week he is willing to send the agreement, which the two sides are set to sign on Friday in Switzerland, to Congress for approval.

On Monday, Malley said the MOU was “an important & welcome achievement,” citing the pending reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

“But the MOU also is a clear & damning indictment of the war that preceded it, chiefly because its main accomplishment is to reopen a waterway that was only closed due to that war,” Malley wrote on X.

“As for the issues that will have to be addressed after the MOU – the fate of Iran’s nuclear program; the disposition of its enriched uranium; the scope of sanctions relief – they almost certainly will be left for later, and will almost certainly be harder to resolve than prior to the war.”

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Robert Malley

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