Iran war day 109: Tehran, Washington, sign MoU electronically

EXPLAINER

Iran’s National Security Council said on Monday that the deal ends fighting on all fronts, including in Lebanon.

US President Donald Trump has said a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Iran has been “all signed” electronically, and the Strait of Hormuz will be “completely open” by Friday.

US officials told the Reuters and AFP news agencies that the agreement was signed by Trump, US Vice President JD Vance and main Iranian negotiator and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

Tuesday marks 109 days since the war began, with the US and Israel’s attacks on Iran. Here is what’s happening:

What we know about the US-Iran MoU

The details of the MoU between the US and Iran have not yet been made fully public, but officials on both sides have offered some indications of what may be included.

• Iran’s National Security Council said on Monday that the deal ends fighting on all fronts, including in Lebanon, and lifts the US naval blockade on Iranian ports.
• Both sides say negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme as well as relief from sanctions will take place in follow-up talks during the 60-day period after the MoU is officially signed in Switzerland on Friday.
• Trump said the Strait of Hormuz will be “open to all” on Friday, while Vance said there would be no tolls on traffic in the waterway during the 60-day period.
• A senior Iranian official told Reuters the US had agreed to release $25bn of Iran’s frozen assets and waive sanctions on oil for a specified period of time.
• But Vance denied that, telling US media that “there hasn’t been a single dollar of sanctions relief or unfrozen assets” from Washington or its allies.
• Vance also said the MoU is a “general document” which is about “a page and a half”. Details of the text could be released soon, he added.

In Iran

• Before electronically signing the MoU with the US, Iran’s Ghalibaf wrote on X that Tehran has taken a “great step toward final victory” after the country’s “historic resistance” against Israel and the US.
• Since announcing the peace deal, the US has removed its blockade of Iranian ports and, according to Iranian media, at least three Iranian oil tankers and other ships carrying goods for Iran have crossed the Strait of Hormuz.
• Saman Rezaei, the head of Iran’s merchant marine union, has told Al Jazeera that he believes the transit system in the Strait of Hormuz will “never return to its pre-war condition”. The recovery [of the strait], he argued, rests on a “convergence of judgements” based on “sustainable peace, a reduction in the apparent threat and several cycles of incident-free transit”.
• Rezaei also confirmed that some 22,000 seafarers have been stranded in the Gulf for nearly four months and have “suffered significant injuries”. He emphasised that the immediate priority is the safe departure of all seafarers with international cooperation, regardless of the political outcome.

In the US

• Vance has published a video on X and called the deal with Iran a “win-win for the American people”.
• In an interview with NBC news, Vance also said there would be no tolls in the Strait of Hormuz during negotiations.
• Trump has dismissed reports of US payments to Iran and said on his Truth Social platform that it was “Fake News, put out by the Dumocrats!!!”
• Democratic politicians in the US have criticised the deal Trump announced with Iran, with Senator Richard Blumenthal likening the outcome of the US war on Iran to the UK’s Suez Canal crisis, when British forces invaded Egypt with Israeli and French troops.
• Republican Senator John Thune has told reporters he doesn’t know enough about the deal with Iran to comment on it yet, but he expects Congress to be briefed soon and suggested that Congress would likely want to hold some type of vote on it.

In Israel

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israeli troops would continue to occupy southern Lebanon, despite the US-Iran agreement.
• Backlash to the US-Iran deal grows in Israel, with members of Netanyahu’s cabinet calling for attacks on Lebanon’s Hezbollah and saying they are not bound by the agreement.
• Israel has killed two people in Gaza as Hamas expressed hopes for a “positive impact” from the US-Iran deal on an end to continued Israeli attacks in the Palestinian territory.

In Lebanon

• Israeli attacks on Lebanon on Monday have killed at least one person.
• Thousands of displaced Lebanese people have returned to destruction in southern Lebanon as Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters continue to trade fire.

Global response

• Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has welcomed the MoU between the US and Iran, saying Kyiv hopes it will prompt Washington to renew efforts to end the war with Russia.
• Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara has voiced concern “about the continuation of Israel’s attacks on south Lebanon”, despite the US and Iran reaching a deal to end fighting on all fronts.
• The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the powerful pro-Israel lobbying group in the US, has said the MoU should preserve Israel’s ability to carry out attacks.

Global economy

• Oil prices have risen. Brent crude futures gained 26 cents, or 0.3 percent, to hit $83.42 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose by 46 cents, or 0.3 percent, to reach $81.12 a barrel.