The USA has, at last, released its own text of the memorandum of understanding it reached with Iran to end the unprovoked 2026 war against the country. For days the only full versions in public circulation came from Iranian media, published by Tasnim and Tabnak and carried by outlets including Crust News.
U.S. officials, including and especially the U.S. President, repeatedly denied that the terms released publicly were indeed the terms of the agreement. We now know that Iranian media had been mostly honest, with some editorialism in places. The fact that we can ascertain from the released memorandum, is that Iran has defeated the USA in a war launched by the USA.
For readers who have followed our coverage, a quick recap. The MoU was digitally signed over the weekend by Iran and by the USA, this has been confirmed by both sides. The USA rushed to get a deal done after an Israeli strike on Beirut nearly collapsed the talks and Iran cleared airspace in preparation for a retaliatory strike that a last-minute deal averted.
The regime in Tel Aviv, which signed nothing and was not a party to the negotiation, has already told Washington it does not consider itself bound by the clause ending the war in Lebanon. That rejection still stands over everything that follows, and the bombs continue to fall on citizens in Lebanon.
The full U.S. text was released today, and it's not a good look for the USA. We expected this yesterday, as reports circulated that Israel had been refused a look at the agreement. Now that we see the full text, it's rather obvious why the USA didn't want anyone to see. They accepted de-facto defeat.
The U.S.-Iran 14-Point Memorandum of Understanding
1. The USA and Iran declare the immediate and permanent end of military operations on every front, including in Lebanon, and commit to refraining from the threat or use of force against each other. The final deal will confirm the permanent termination of the war on all fronts and incorporate the other provisions of this paragraph.
2. The two countries agree to respect each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity going forward. Both sides also commit to refraining from interfering in each other's internal affairs.
3. The USA and Iran commit to negotiating and concluding a final deal within a maximum of 60 days. That timeline can only be extended by mutual consent of both parties.
4. The USA will begin removing its naval blockade and other impediments on Iran immediately upon signing, with a full lift within 30 days and vessel traffic progressively restored to pre-war levels. Washington also agrees to withdraw its forces from the proximity of Iran within 30 days of the final deal's conclusion.
5. Iran will use its best efforts to ensure free passage for commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz for 60 days in both directions, with no fees charged, and commercial traffic is to resume immediately. Tehran is to complete demining and other technical and military measures within 30 days, and will hold talks with Oman and other Gulf states on the strait's future administration and maritime services.
6. The USA, in coordination with regional partners, will develop a definitive, mutually agreed reconstruction and economic development plan for Iran worth at least $300 billion. An implementation mechanism for the plan is to be finalized within 60 days, with the U.S. granting all required licenses and waivers for the relevant financial transactions.
7. The USA commits to terminating all sanctions on Iran, including UN Security Council resolutions, IAEA Board of Governors resolutions and U.S. unilateral primary and secondary sanctions, according to a schedule to be set in the final deal. Both parties acknowledge the critical importance of the sanctions issue and intend to address it immediately in negotiations.
8. Iran reaffirms it will not procure or develop nuclear weapons. The two sides agree to resolve the disposition of Iran's stockpiled enriched material through a mutually agreed mechanism, with on-site down-blending under IAEA supervision as the baseline method, and will discuss Iran's enrichment activities within a framework to be agreed in the final deal.
9. Pending the final deal, both sides agree to maintain the status quo, with Iran keeping the current status of its nuclear program in place. The U.S. agrees not to impose any new sanctions or deploy additional forces in the region during this period.
10. The US Treasury will issue waivers immediately upon signing authorizing Iran to export crude oil, petroleum products and derivatives. Those waivers extend to associated services, including banking, insurance and transportation, and remain in effect until sanctions are terminated.
11. The USA will make all frozen or restricted Iranian funds and assets fully available, with procedures for their release and use to be mutually agreed during negotiations. Those funds may be used for payments to any ultimate beneficiary designated by the Central Bank of Iran, with the U.S. issuing all necessary licenses to that end.
12. Both sides agree to establish an executive mechanism to monitor implementation of the MoU. That same mechanism will also track future compliance with the final deal.
13. Once the ceasefire, naval withdrawal, Strait of Hormuz measures, oil waivers and asset release are underway, the two countries will begin negotiating the remaining elements of the final deal. That sequencing is tied specifically to paragraphs 1, 4, 5, 10 and 11.
14. The final deal is to be endorsed by a binding UN Security Council resolution.
The document will be known as the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding between the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran, this is a nod to the efforts of Pakistan, who mediated the deal.
Readers who saw the version we published earlier this week will notice this is not quite the same text. That earlier version came through Iranian outlets Tasnim and Tabnak, and it is worth being precise about where the two line up and where they part, because the gaps are notable.
On the overall architecture, the Iranian text held up well, and is largely the agreement released by the USA. The end of fighting on all fronts including Lebanon, the 30-day blockade lift, the $300 billion reconstruction figure, the 60-day negotiating window, the standstill on new sanctions and new deployments, the reaffirmation that Iran will not build a weapon, the monitoring mechanism, the binding Security Council resolution, the USA has admitted that all of that is in the agreement.
Before breaking down the rest of the agreement, it is worth noting that the U.S. and Iranian versions of the text are likely to be exactly as biased as each other, are likely to frame elements in their favour, and are equally likely to overstate or understate elements that they can shift into a propaganda win. The truth behind both will likely be revealed on Friday during a symbolic signing ceremony in Switzerland.
The largest divergence between the versions of the deal is in relation to Iran's nuclear stockpile. The Iranian text contained no method for dealing with Iran's enriched material. The US text makes on-site down-blending under IAEA supervision the baseline method. It is the clearest commitment Washington extracted, and the version coming out of Tehran did not have it.
Iran's missile programme and its support for armed groups across the region were declared, in the Iranian text, "definitively removed from the agenda." The US text says nothing about the groups or the missiles.
On money, both texts run the same direction; the difference is the guarantees. Ours from Tehran set hard terms, a reconstruction plan worth at least $300 billion, plus Iran's frozen assets released on a fixed schedule, a chunk of it handed over before talks could even begin. The US text promises more in substance and less on paper. It keeps the $300 billion plan, and rather than name a frozen-asset figure it commits to making all of Iran's blocked funds available, well past $100 billion by Tehran's own count. Reports this week say Qatar has agreed to unlock about $6 billion of Iran's funds held in Doha since 2023, but as a conditional, unsigned credit line tied to the deal, not a cash transfer.
Iran got what it wanted. The war ends, the blockade lifts, the sanctions are suspended, its frozen funds come back, and Washington and the Gulf are on the hook for at least $300 billion in reconstruction funds. In return it dilutes uranium it already enriched, and offers very few benefits to the USA, especially when compared to the deal that came before it, in fact, it leaves the USA with a worse deal than that signed by Barack Obama.
This was Israel's war, fought by the USA on its behalf, and the USA has now signed terms that give Tehran nearly everything and Israel nothing. That's why Netanyahu has already rejected the Lebanon clause the deal rests on. Whether it survives him is the only thing still open.
