US, Iran sign 'memorandum of understanding' to end Middle East war

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said Thursday that he had approved despite reservations a deal signed by US President Donald Trump to end the Middle East war, as the United States lifted a blockade of Iranian ports.

The signing of the deal by Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian set in motion a 60-day period for talks on wider issues between the two foes, including the Iranian nuclear programme.

But there was uncertainty over the next steps, and it remained unclear if the two sides – who have had no diplomatic relations following the 1979 Islamic revolution – would hold a signing ceremony and talks in Switzerland  as previously announced.

Oil prices tumbled after the agreement was inked, though activity was still muted in the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic bottleneck for energy shipments that Iran blockaded during the conflict and which should reopen immediately under the deal.

'Different view'

Mojtaba Khamenei, who became supreme leader after his father and longstanding Iran ruler Ali Khamenei was killed in an airstrike on the first day of the war on February 28, said in a written statement that he had approved the deal despite having a "different view," without elaborating.

"But I issued my permission due to the commitment" made by officials including Pezheshkian to "protect the rights of the Iranian nation."

"Face-to-face negotiations" with the United States will be held in the future, but that does not "mean accepting the enemy's point of view," he added.

Ali Khamenei had during his rule repeatedly allowed officials to go ahead with negotiations without himself showing enthusiasm.

His son – said to have been wounded in an airstrike – has yet to be seen in public himself since being named supreme leader. His father's funeral ceremonies, scheduled for early July, will be closely scrutinised for signs of the new ruler.

From Israel there was a lukewarm reaction, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu underscored the importance of maintaining close ties with the US on Thursday, saying Washington had stood by Israel during the Middle East war.

Netanyahu's remarks came as relations with his country's most important ally have come under strain over the US-Iran agreement to halt the conflict, which Israeli analysts have sharply criticised, arguing it effectively locks in Iranian gains while deferring the issue most sensitive to Israel: its security.

"The struggle is not yet over, and further challenges lie ahead. They require calm judgement, steadfast defence of Israel's security interests, and at the same time the preservation of our vital relationship with our American friends, who stood shoulder to shoulder with us in this fight – a partnership we deeply appreciate," Netanyahu said at a function, according to a statement issued by his office.

Netanyahu has still not commented directly on the deal, though some of his coalition members dismissed it even before the text's details were released on Wednesday.

The deal's terms call for "an immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon."

While the agreement addresses the dilution of Iran's enriched uranium stockpile, it makes no mention of how to tackle Iran's missile programme – the dismantling of which had been a key US-Israeli objective during the war.

Iran's missile infrastructure came under heavy US-Israeli bombardment in the conflict, but Tehran continued to respond with missile and drone attacks across the region.

'Maybe they start fighting again'

US forces earlier Thursday lifted their naval blockade of Iranian ports that had prevented ships from sailing to or from the Islamic republic, the US military said, noting that American warships "will remain in the general area."

Three Saudi oil tankers left the Gulf through the strait on Thursday, maritime trackers said, while the loaded liquefied natural gas vessel (LNG) Mraikh became the first such French vessel to make the transit since the start of the conflict.

Iranian state TV, citing a statement from the country's Supreme National Security Council, said that ships "seeking passage through the Strait of Hormuz must submit their request" to a new government body tasked with overseeing the waterway.

In keeping with the terms of the deal, it added, "no fees whatsoever will be collected from applicants for a period of sixty days."

US Vice-President JD Vance, meanwhile, said he planned to go to Switzerland for "technical negotiations" with Iran "this weekend," but emphasised that the plan "could change".

In Tehran, the Tasnim agency said "nothing has been confirmed" about the Iranian delegation's trip to Switzerland.

The deal should bring an end to the current US-Israeli conflict with the Islamic republic, which saw five weeks of all-out war until a ceasefire was struck in early April.

But some in Tehran expressed a downbeat mood at the prospects for peace.

"I have no hope that this is a lasting agreement. Maybe after the 60 days they start fighting again," said Mina, 54, a psychologist from Tehran.

Her sentiment was shared by French President Emmanuel Macron, who presided over the signing at the Palace of Versailles in what he described as a "spontaneous" move by Trump.

Macron said "he did not believe" that the war was "totally finished."

Under the text, Washington commits to immediately waive oil sanctions crippling Iran's economy.

And once a final agreement is reached on Iran's nuclear programme, the United States will facilitate the release of a US$300-billion reconstruction fund supported by regional nations, the deal says.

'Victory'?

Trump's decision to end the war, in which 13 US service members were killed and a vast proportion of US ammunition stockpiles was used, has unsettled some of his allies at home.

US Senator Bill Cassidy from Trump's Republican Party described it as the "worst foreign policy blunder in decades."

"Iran's nuclear ambitions were not curbed, and they have learned that threatening the Strait of Hormuz works," he said.

Roger Wicker, chairman of the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee, called the MOU "completely out of step" with Trump's goals and railed against sanctions relief and the unfreezing of funds "in exchange for Iran's mere agreement to negotiate for another 60 days."

"Specifically, the US$300 billion fund for the reconstruction and economic development of Iran – though not funded by US taxpayers – would make Iran's pay-off under [former US] President [Barack] Obama's 2015 deal look like a pittance by comparison," he said in a statement.

Texas Senator John Cornyn told reporters he was concerned the accord could be little more than "an intermission," leaving Iran able to rebuild its arsenal and keep enriching uranium.

Apparently anticipating such criticism, Trump said at a G7 Leaders Summit this week that he was prepared to "bomb the hell" out of Iran if they violated the agreement.

Trump added on social media Thursday that those criticising the agreement were "fools" and described the deal as a "victory."

There has also been some criticism from hardliners within Iran, where the conflict was described as an "imposed war" and compared to the 1980-1988 conflict with Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

But parliament speaker and top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf insisted the deal represented a US "failure," while Pezeshkian called it "historic."

Agnes Lavallois, president of France's Institute for Research and Studies on the Mediterranean and the Middle East, said the feeling was that the the United States "wanted just one thing – the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz."

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