Saturday, June 20th 2026
Donald Trump has signed a 14-point deal with Iran, claiming it delivered a “huge victory” for the United States – even as he made significant political and financial concessions to Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and prevent a “world depression”. enriched uranium for civilian use, that he would not pressure Tehran to abandon its ballistic missile program and that the US “would have to return” billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets, The Guardian wrote.
These remarks, as well as the full text of the deal hailed by Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem as a “huge victory” are likely to fuel anger in Israel and among hard-liners in the Republican party, who had urged Trump not to make a deal with Tehran, reports Signal.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed the deal on Wednesday from Tehran. US Vice President JD Vance is also expected to sign the deal at a more formal ceremony in Geneva on Friday.
Iran’s chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said: “The deal is a testament to the failure of the US. People will see and judge.”
Defending the deal, Trump said no US president had ever been as tough on Iran as he was, and “there is nothing as smart as the market and the market wants it”.
Trump said the “alternative would be a worldwide depression”, arguing that if he hadn’t struck a deal, “the Strait [of Hormuz] would never have opened. They don’t like billion-dollar ships sailing up and down the strait when their missiles are flying overhead and there are mines everywhere”.
Senior administration officials said the deal would help prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, referring to an agreement to discuss reducing its stockpile of 440 kg of highly enriched uranium, which can be further enriched for use in a nuclear weapon. Trump has said he was open to stockpiling inside Iran under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The Trump administration had delayed releasing the full text of the memorandum of understanding, which is essentially a 60-day ceasefire agreement, aimed at holding more comprehensive nuclear weapons and permanent peace talks with Iran. The 14-point plan was outlined to reporters during a briefing by senior administration officials as Trump spoke at the end of the G7.
The deal would offer Iran significant financial incentives, including the immediate lifting of the US naval blockade of Iranian ports and exemptions for Iranian crude to be shipped abroad, as well as the possible lifting of all international sanctions against Iran. unlocking billions of dollars in Iranian assets and plans to develop a $300bn (£224bn) reconstruction fund for Iran, funded by regional partners in the Persian Gulf.
Trump angrily rejected suggestions that the US would contribute to the $300bn fund, saying instead that payments from Gulf states would likely be conditional. by Iran’s good behavior.
“Anyone who wants to can invest. What do you expect me to say: nobody is allowed to invest? But we’re not investing; we’re not investing even 10 cents,” he said.
The cease-fire agreement included Lebanon, a key Iranian demand, which would prevent Israel from conducting military operations in the country, according to a senior administration official. It also included a clause ensuring Lebanon’s “territorial integrity,” although an administration official, when asked, would not confirm that this would mean Israel would be forced to withdraw from the part of the country it has occupied as a “buffer zone” against Hezbollah.
In return, Iran would agree to rein in its foreign allies, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, and “reaffirms that it will not provide or develop weapons.” The deal would also allow free passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz for 60 days, but on Wednesday Ghalibaf said Iran would impose tolls on ships traveling through the waterway at the end of the period set out in the memorandum of understanding.
In an interview broadcast on state television, Ghalibaf said “the Strait of Hormuz will not return to pre-war conditions”. adding: “Iran has a right of sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, and of course we will get a fee for the services.”
Suzanne Maloney, vice president and director of the foreign policy program at the Brookings Institution, said: “Really, the level of expertise and detail required to resolve even the nuclear part of this issue seems insurmountable for an administration that is flying very fast in these negotiations”.
“So much is front-loaded for the Iranians … they will be able to export oil without the sanctions regime, which is almost surreal at this point. They will make a lot of money very quickly”. addressed directly in the memorandum of understanding.
“They have to have some because other people have some. You have to have some,” Trump said.
“What am I going to do? Am I going to let Saudi Arabia have missiles, but they can’t have them?” he added, referring to earlier discussions with advisers on Iran’s missile arsenal.
French President Emmanuel Macron called it a “very good deal”, adding that US allies in the G7 support it “because it is an agreement that ends a situation of great instability that had dire consequences for our economies”.
But the G7’s proposal for further talks with European leaders about Iran’s ballistic missiles and support for intermediary forces will surely be rejected by Iran. Tehran has negotiated exclusively with the US and considers Europe largely irrelevant.
Iran is also likely to reject France and Britain’s plan for a task force to escort ships through the strait, a proposal backed by the G7 leaders’ statement.
G7 leaders said the deal offered “a historic opportunity to prevent Iran from acquiring any nuclear weapons and to to confront threats related to its regional and ballistic activities. We support it and are ready to contribute to its implementation”. Trump told reporters. “It’s not our money, it’s their money, and we freeze it at some point. I think we’re going to have to give it back, you know, if we didn’t give it back, nobody would ever invest in dollars again.” war.
Source: prizrenpost
Etiketa: Brief
