US President Donald Trump said he has signed the memorandum of understanding with Iran. “It’s signed,” Trump told reporters as he left Versailles. “I signed it in Versailles,” Trump said. “Just signed it.”
The White House also said that Trump signed the MoU on ending the war in Iran while at Versailles, though cameras weren’t present for that. Meanwhile, a US official said US and Iran presidents have signed the agreement.
Though officials had said Trump and Vice President JD Vance had digitally signed the agreement Sunday and that a ceremonial signing would be held Friday in Switzerland, a US official who spoke on condition of anonymity to share details about the agreement said Trump signed the deal while at Versailles on Wednesday.
The official said Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also signed it Wednesday, though Iran did not immediately comment. It wasn’t immediately clear if that act started a 60-day negotiating clock to reach a final deal. It was also not clear how Trump’s signing of the deal at Versailles differed from his digital signing on Sunday.
Many historic treaties have been signed at Versailles over the centuries, ending wars or territorial disputes. The most infamous was that sealed in 1919 officially ending World War I — whose harsh terms imposed on Germany are blamed by some historians for laying the groundwork for World War II.
US officials say Iran deal calls for diluting uranium at minimum, waiving sanctions, opening Strait of Hormuz
President Donald Trump said he signed an agreement with Iran Wednesday that US officials say calls for Tehran to dilute its stockpile of highly enriched uranium and waive sanctions on the country, immediately allowing Iran to sell its oil freely in a major concession from Washington.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who helped mediate the deal to end the war, said it is taking “immediate effect” after leaders from both countries signed it, but that there will still be a formal signing ceremony on Friday.
The agreement would open the Strait of Hormuz toll-free for two months and affirm a commitment to Lebanon’s territorial integrity in the face of Israel’s invasion against the Hezbollah militant group, according to officials from both countries. US officials dictated draft language to journalists after days of secrecy, speaking on condition of anonymity. Iranian state TV later released text that largely tracked what the US put out.
A US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to share details about the agreement, said Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also signed it Wednesday, though Iran did not immediately comment. It wasn’t immediately clear if that act started a 60-day negotiating clock to reach a final deal. It was also not clear how Trump’s signing of the deal at Versailles differed from his digital signing on Sunday.
In a video posted online by a White House aide, Trump is seen seated at a table next to Macron signing a paper copy of the agreement. Trump then hands the document and pen to Secretary of State Marco Rubio as people in the room applaud.
Agreement calls for Iran to downgrade its enriched uranium on site
Text of the agreement has not been formally released. The draft read by US officials includes language that Iran agrees not to develop or procure nuclear weapons and requires that Iran’s highly enriched uranium be downgraded on site as a minimum.
In return, the US will move to waive, but not eliminate, some wide-ranging sanctions against Iran. The agreement also secures free passage of the strait for only 60 days, and it does not preclude fees in future, according to the US officials and the Iranian draft.
The US and Israel went to war on Feb 28 in part to prevent Iran from ever getting a nuclear weapon. Trump has cited various goals for the war, including at times vowing it would end Iran’s nuclear and missile programs and its support for Hezbollah and other proxy groups in the region. He also suggested it could lead to toppling the Iranian government.
The interim deal falls short of all those goals, but Trump hailed it Wednesday. “Nobody knows what it is, but it’s very strong,” Trump said in France, where he attended a Group of Seven summit. But he also opened the door to abandoning it: “It’s a memorandum of understanding, and if I don’t like it, we’ll go back to shooting at them, dropping bombs.”
Much of the agreement would restore the status quo before the war, including ending hostilities, restarting talks between the US and Iran over Tehran’s nuclear programme, and reopening the strait, the crucial passage for the world’s oil and natural gas and whose closure created a historic energy crisis.
Several benefits for Iran after Trump signs deal
It opens a two-month period for nuclear negotiations and appears to offer Iran several benefits up front while extracting little in return. The US agreement to immediately allow Iran to sell its oil freely and the offer to eventually lift all sanctions represent major concessions that go beyond the terms of Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
Trump withdrew America from that Obama-era pact in his first term, declaring it the “worst deal ever.” The Islamic Republic maintains that its nuclear programme is peaceful.
The accord likely will draw intense opposition in Washington, and it appears to be a major setback for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has come under criticism at home from the media, his opponents and even some allies as details emerge.
Under the Obama-era nuclear agreement with Iran that Trump pulled out of, Iran also agreed to restrictions on its nuclear program and promised never to build an atomic weapon.
The new US-Iran deal includes an end to the fighting in Lebanon between Israel and the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah. That is one of the most delicate parts of the agreement because Israel has maintained it will continue to defend itself and to occupy vast swaths of Lebanon. Iran has said Israel must withdraw under the deal.
The document also has provisions to ensure the territorial integrity of Lebanon after Israel’s latest attacks against Hezbollah in Lebanese territory. Israel has rejected the prospect of withdrawing from Lebanon, but the agreement expressly states that military operations in Lebanon must stop with the signing of the memorandum.
Some concessions to Iran — including the full lifting of sanctions and the release of frozen assets — would happen gradually and be linked to progress in the nuclear talks, according to officials from Pakistan, a key mediator. They outlined some of the deal’s major points on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
Iran can sell oil freely with sanctions off
But in the meantime, the US will issue waivers to sanctions that allow Iran to sell oil freely. The Islamic Republic’s oil export revenues in 2024 were more than $46 billion. Its main buyer of oil, China, is believed to have bought at below-market prices because of its willingness to ignore the sanctions.
Granting oil waivers at the start of the 60-day talks strips the US of a major point of leverage. Only at the conclusion of the overall deal in 2015 were sanctions on Iran’s oil lifted. The interim deal also opens the door to ending all sanctions Iran faces from the US and at the UN — including those over Tehran’s weapons programs and human rights abuses — though it says the schedule for that will be worked out later.
Still, that far surpasses the 2015 deal, which only lifted some sanctions in exchange for Iran drastically reducing its enrichment and stockpile of uranium. The accord would also provide Iran with at least USD 300 billion to rebuild — an extraordinary figure and another major benefit for Iran. The money also appears dependent on the progress of further negotiations.
Vance has said Gulf Arab nations would invest that amount. But Gulf countries would likely be reluctant to help Iran after Iranian attacks in the war destroyed oil facilities and other sites in their territory. Trump reiterated Wednesday that the US would not contribute and said it was up to other countries if they wanted to invest.
The deal provides a major win for the global economy — the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all traded oil and natural gas once passed before the war began. Since then, Iranian attacks on shipping and the threat to vessels effectively shut the strait.
The strait’s closure drove up energy prices around the world and made many basics, including food, more expensive. Iran let through some vessels that paid tolls, something never done before in the strait, which has long been considered an international waterway.
The US later provided military support to get other tankers out, but traffic was nowhere near levels before the war. The deal also says the US will lift a blockade imposed on Iranian ports and that the strait will return to its prewar traffic levels in 30 days, while acknowledging Iranian mines may need to be destroyed.3
