A crucial step has just been taken to end the war in the Middle East. The US and Iranian presidents each signed the memorandum of understanding on Wednesday evening in which Iran undertakes to dilute its enriched uranium in future negotiations, in exchange for the lifting of US sanctions. Tehran must also allow, within thirty days, the full restoration of maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, a key passage for global hydrocarbon trade.
The memorandum of understanding, which includes the Lebanese front, was signed by Donald Trump, visiting France, said an American official. The text was signed electronically and remotely by Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian and his American counterpart, confirmed the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Esmaïl Baghaï. “It is now time to put the implementation of this agreement to the test,” he insisted.
Tehran and Hezbollah claim victory
The formal signing ceremony by American Vice-President JD Vance and the President of the Iranian Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, initially planned in Switzerland this Friday, therefore now seems irrelevant, according to Tehran. Esmaïl Baghaï indeed indicated that it did not “really have its place” in the Iranian plans.
Tehran sees this signing as a victory. “This agreement marks the failure of the United States” against Iran, Mohammad Bagher declared Wednesday evening on state television. On the same line, the general secretary of pro-Tehran Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah, Naïm Kassem, described this agreement as a “great victory” for Iran, which he thanked for having insisted on including the Lebanese front.
In a televised message, Naïm Kassem also called for “taking advantage” of this agreement to “expel Israel” from Lebanon, a country drawn into the conflict when Hezbollah fired rockets against Israel in support of Iran. He also called on the Lebanese government to stop the direct negotiations with Israel initiated since April under the aegis of Washington. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun had previously assured that the process was “independent” of the American-Iranian agreement.
Negotiations before a final agreement
The text of the memorandum of understanding signed on Wednesday provides that the United States will suspend, upon signature, its sanctions on the sale of Iranian oil. They also undertake to lift all of their sanctions against Tehran in the event of the conclusion of a final agreement, at the end of a 60-day negotiation period.
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During these two months, the two countries will discuss a mechanism to deal with Iranian stocks “using, at a minimum, an on-site dilution method under the supervision of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency)”, underlined an American official, wanting to see it as a “major victory” for Washington.
