A surprise breakthrough at the highest level has produced a US-Iran accord billed as a pathway out of the Middle East war, with Tehran agreeing to dilute its enriched uranium in exchange for sweeping economic relief.
US President Donald Trump signed the memorandum of understanding over dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Palace of Versailles after a G7 summit, a US official told AFP.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei, quoted by the state news agency IRNA, said the document “was finalised with the signatures of the presidents.”
The pact is intended to close the chapter on the conflict launched 28 February by the United States and Israel, which triggered Iranian retaliation through missile and drone salvos across the region.
The fighting also effectively shut down the Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery for the global economy.
“Now it is time to test the implementation of the agreement,” Mr Baqaei said.
According to the text, Washington will immediately waive oil sanctions that have battered Iran’s economy.
The document adds that once a final agreement is secured on the Islamic republic’s nuclear programme, the United States will also facilitate the release of a $300 billion reconstruction fund backed by regional nations.
Signatures had initially been expected from Iran’s chief negotiator and parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, and US Vice President JD Vance. Iran later said an in-person signing ceremony was no longer necessary.
‘Great victory’
Iran cast the outcome as a US “failure”.
“People will see it and judge,” Mr Ghalibaf said on state television after both sides published the text.
Pointing to the wider stakes, China said its top diplomat had urged Tehran that it was “key” for all parties to “genuinely implement” their obligations.
Mr Trump’s move to halt the war — a conflict in which 13 US service members were killed and large amounts of US ammunition stockpiles were expended — has rattled some of his domestic allies.
The agreement is described as a stopgap designed to create space for detailed talks on the more difficult task of long-term limits on Iran’s nuclear power ambitions.
Commercial vessels and oil tankers preparing to transit through the Strait of Hormuz
Mr Trump earlier said he was ready to “bomb the hell” out of Iran if it breached the agreement.
But criticism came swiftly from within his own party, including US Senator Bill Cassidy, a Republican.
“Iran’s nuclear ambitions were not curbed, and they have learned that threatening the Strait of Hormuz works,” he said.
“Sanctions will be lifted, and the bombing has stopped. This is the worst foreign policy blunder in decades.”
Naim Qassem, head of the pro-Tehran Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, called the deal a “great victory” for Iran.
He also thanked Tehran for ensuring the truce would apply to Lebanon, which became entangled in the war after Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel on 2 March in support of Iran.
Negotiations to begin
A two-month negotiating window now opens, with the widely anticipated reopening of the Strait of Hormuz set as the first step.
Under the terms released by US officials, Iran is to dilute its enriched uranium stockpile, potentially through “down-blending on site under the supervision of the IAEA” — the UN’s nuclear watchdog.
That process would unlock broader economic support for Iran.
However, a US official said Washington would not be required to provide financial contributions.
Oil prices have slid in recent days as hopes rose for a durable Middle East peace deal, though the market swung back yesterday.
Prices briefly jumped 5% amid uncertainty over the signing, before settling later in the day.
Lebanese front
Despite a drop in violence in Lebanon following the deal’s announcement, Israeli strikes on the south have killed at least five people since then, according to state media, which also reported Israeli raids on south Lebanon yesterday.
Israeli Merkava tanks driving along a road past destroyed buildings in southern Lebanon
Israel’s army said five soldiers were wounded, one of them severely, “as a result of an explosive drone impact in southern Lebanon”, in what it described as the first such announcement since the US-Iran deal.
The Israeli military also said its air force intercepted “several rockets” launched toward soldiers operating in south Lebanon, without reporting casualties.
More: What is in the 14-point draft of the US-Iran deal?
