KABUL (Pajhwok): US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian have electronically signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the war between the United States, Israel and Iran.
According to Reuters, the United States and Iran on Wednesday released the text of an interim agreement signed by their presidents to end the conflict.
However, Trump warned that attacks could resume and Iranian officials could be targeted if Tehran failed to honor its commitments under the deal.
Speaking during a G7 gathering in France, Trump also appeared to soften one of his previous justifications for the military campaign, saying it would be “unfair” to deny Iran ballistic missiles, despite earlier pledges to eliminate the country’s missile capabilities.
“Everything we sought to achieve through military action, we obtained several times over through negotiation; it was not even comparable,” Iran’s chief negotiator, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, told state television.
He noted that the agreement includes the unfreezing of billions of dollars in Iranian assets.
The United States and Israel launched military operations against Iran on February 28, reportedly killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 86, and several senior military commanders on the first day of the conflict.
The war quickly escalated into a broader regional confrontation that has claimed more than 7,000 lives, primarily in Iran and Lebanon. It also drove up energy prices, renewed inflationary pressures, and raised concerns about a potential food supply crisis in developing countries.
The 14-point agreement extends a ceasefire announced in April by an additional 60 days, including in Lebanon, to provide both sides with time to negotiate a permanent settlement.
US and Iranian officials confirmed that Trump and Pezeshkian digitally signed the memorandum in English and Farsi. Iran’s Foreign Ministry said the agreement took effect immediately on Wednesday.
Trump signed the document shortly before attending a state dinner hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron at the Palace of Versailles, the site where the Treaty of Versailles was signed following World War I.
The memorandum calls for an immediate end to hostilities on all fronts, including Lebanon. It also provides for the full resumption of maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz without additional charges, the lifting of the US blockade on Iranian ports, the waiver of US sanctions on Iran, the release of frozen Iranian assets, and the establishment of a $300 billion investment fund for the country’s post-war reconstruction.
Oil prices fell again on Wednesday amid expectations that shipping through the Strait of Hormuz — the strategically vital waterway between Iran and Oman — would fully resume.
Brent crude futures dropped below $80 per barrel, their lowest level since the conflict began. Prices later recovered by more than one percent after Trump warned of possible renewed military action.
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