Both Iran and the US claimed victory after a newly signed US-Iran memorandum of understanding, with Tehran calling the agreement a “record of American failure.” Iranian negotiators claim Washington was forced into major concessions, including sanctions relief, access to frozen funds and support for economic reconstruction.
President Donald Trump on Thursday said the deal with Iran to end the war was a “victory” for the United States, rejecting mounting criticism including from some in his own Republican party.
“There is no 300 Billion Dollar payment to Iran by the US That’s Fake News! All there is for the US is Success, Lower Oil Prices and Victory. Check out the Stock Market. Democrat propaganda at play!!!” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social network.
The US on Thursday lifted a blockade of Iranian ports imposed during the Middle East war after President Donald Trump signed a deal to end the conflict, as uncertainty surrounded planned talks in Switzerland aiming to take the accord further.
Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed the interim deal on Wednesday, ending a three-month war. Trump chose to formalise it at Versailles, on the sidelines of the G7 summit - a setting widely seen as symbolic of the remaking of international order after conflict.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said on Thursday he had authorised a memorandum of understanding signed by the Iranian and U.S. presidents, despite holding a different view, after receiving assurances from President Pezeshkian and other senior officials that Iran’s rights and the interests of the “Resistance Front” would be safeguarded.
In a written message to the Iranian nation, Khamenei said Pezeshkian, in his capacity as head of the Supreme National Security Council, had accepted responsibility for ensuring the agreement protected Iran’s interests and pledged not to yield if Washington made what he described as excessive demands.
“For Washington and Tehran, this is a grand bargain - the deal of the century, with no turning back,” said Lebanese commentator Sarkis Naoum. “The probability of success outweighs the risk of failure. Iran cannot endure further economic pain under sanctions and Trump has no incentive to start a new war.”
Israeli analyst Danny Citrinowicz described the agreement as a strategic “catastrophe”. What had been framed as a joint US-Israeli campaign to weaken, or even topple the Islamic Republic has, in his view, flipped into American recognition of Iran.
The US and Israel launched the war on Iran on February 28, assassinating the 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other senior figures in the first days. The conflict spiralled, killing more than 7,000 people, mostly in Iran and Lebanon, while driving up energy prices and raising fears of a food crisis in developing states. For Lebanon, the agreement tilts the balance toward Iran, reinforcing the role of Hezbollah and folding the country into a broader US-Iran framework while sidelining Beirut-Israel talks. — Reuters
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