Washington DC – A newly concluded deal to end the US-Israel war with Iran is being hailed as a strategic victory by US President Donald Trump and his allies, but the specific terms of the deal are not yet known.
Supporters poured in praise for the US president on Sunday despite questions about what commitments will be included in the initial memorandum of understanding to be signed on Friday and which issues, such as Iran’s nuclear program, will only be open to negotiation after a deal is signed.
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US Vice President JD Vance touted what a “new era” it would be for the Middle East, pointing to a drop in oil prices shortly after the announcement.
“What the president has done is create a real space for change in the region,” he told Fox News. “I think I can confidently say that Iran will never have nuclear weapons.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio linked the announcement to Trump’s 80th birthday on Sunday.
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Several Republicans took to social media to praise Trump as a “deal master.”
Rep. Robert Aderholt echoed Trump’s claims that the pending deal with Iran would impose more restrictions on Tehran’s nuclear program than the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
The agreement, from which President Trump withdrew in 2018, was concluded under the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama. Iran scaled back its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief. Tehran has insisted for years that it is not pursuing nuclear weapons.
“Unlike the agreement reached during the Obama administration, this agreement will not allow Iran to continue to enrich uranium and produce the components needed to build nuclear weapons,” Aderholt said.
But there was no indication that the memorandum would include any immediate commitments to Tehran’s nuclear program.
Both sides said the initial agreement would halt fighting on all fronts, including in Lebanon.
Trump’s announcement came after Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced the deal for X.
“I am pleased to announce that after intensive talks, a peace agreement has been reached between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Sharif said. “Both sides have declared an immediate and permanent end to military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon.”
U.S., Pakistani and Iranian officials also said the deal would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and lift a U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports.
But Iranian officials have said for days that the initial agreement would only serve as a starting point for 60 days of negotiations on other deeply entrenched issues, including Iran’s nuclear program and future management of the strait.
Both sides also offered varying explanations for when the United States would release frozen assets and lift sanctions as part of the agreement. U.S. officials have insisted that such action would not be immediate and would only occur if certain commitments are met after the deal is signed.
U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, who has long supported harsh military action against Iran, was among those celebrating the apparent breakthrough on Sunday.
Nonetheless, he noted that the messages from the United States and Iran are different.
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Democrats demand clarity
Meanwhile, Democrats have been questioning for months whether starting a war with Israel on February 28 would serve American interests.
The Trump administration has said its goal is to degrade Iran’s military capabilities and destroy its nuclear program.
President Trump and his senior officials have also said they hope the war will promote regime change in Iran. That did not happen, experts say, despite the killing of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and dozens of other officials, the hard-line government has become further calcified by the war.
Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, later took over his father’s role.
In an interview with NS Now on Saturday, Rep. Seth Moulton criticized the terms of the memorandum of understanding, calling it “basically a surrender document from Donald Trump to the Supreme Leader of Iran.”
“I mean, $100 billion of taxpayers’ money has already been put into this war, 14 Americans have died, and he gets a deal to reopen a strait that was already open before he started the war? How does that win?” he said
Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Sunday that Trump’s war choice was misguided and harmful to American interests.
Nonetheless, he said he welcomed the new focus on diplomacy, even as he called for more clarity on all deals.
“The American people deserve more than vague announcements or political distortions,” he said in a statement.
“They deserve security, clear answers, and confidence that this government will not repeat the failures that led us to an unauthorized and costly war.”
possibility of further war
Robert Malley, the Obama administration’s chief negotiator on the JCPOA agreement, also called the deal signed Friday an “important and welcome achievement” because it was expected to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
“But the MOU is also a clear and damning indictment of the previous war, since its main achievement was to reopen waterways that had been closed due to the war,” he posted on X.
“Issues that need to be resolved after the MOU – the fate of Iran’s nuclear program, its handling of enriched uranium, and the scope for sanctions relief – will almost certainly be postponed to a later date and will almost certainly be more difficult to resolve than before the war,” he said.
Sina Toossi, a senior fellow at the Center for Progressive International Policy think tank, echoed the same assessment.
“Make no mistake: If you had told the war’s loudest cheerleaders in February that this would be the outcome, they would have been horrified,” he said in a post to X.
“There is no regime change. Iran does not give in to maximalist demands. This is the worst-case scenario.”
And while falling oil prices have offered a glimmer of hope for Trump, whose approval ratings have fallen to record lows amid the economic damage caused by the war, it remains to be seen whether negative views of the war will change.
The 60-day deadline on several key issues expires in August as the United States enters its final campaign period ahead of November’s midterm elections.
In an interview with the New York Times on this day, President Trump said that he could resume attacks on Iran if a nuclear agreement is not reached by then.
As a result, he said, he could make the United States the “guardian of the Middle East” in exchange for 20 percent of the region’s revenue.
