Peloni: This is too much to believe. If this really represents the new US policy, Trump is capitulating to China, dropping his goals of building the IMEC, and abandoning Israel, all in the same moment. I don’t believe this is real, not because I think Trump is some paragon of virtue, but because I don’t believe he is truly self destructive by nature. Trump loves nothing better than Trump, and his self image of grandeur and greatness is too great to allow him undo himself so completely as he is doing with this document.
By Caitlin Doornbos | NYP | June 17, 2026
The secret US-Iran peace deal was released Wednesday by a senior US official — three days after it was signed electronically.
A senior US official read the 14-point US-Iran memorandum of understanding to reporters on a call Wednesday — and it pledges the US will immediately lift its blockade and waive Iranian oil sanctions until a final deal is reached.
Other economic incentives — including the formal removal of sanctions — are saved until after a deal is reached.
The long-awaited release ends days of speculation and spin on what is included in the plan and whether Iran got too generous of a deal.
The text reads as follows:
- The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran and their allies in the current war, by signing this MOU, declare the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon, and undertake from now on not to initiate any war or any military operation against each other, and to refrain from the threat or use of force against each other, and ensuring the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Lebanon. The final deal will confirm the permanent termination of the war on all fronts, including in Lebanon, and other provisions of this paragraph.
- The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran undertake to respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and to refrain from interfering in each other’s internal affairs.
- The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran commit to negotiating and achieving the final deal in maximum 60 days extendable with mutual consent.
- Immediately upon the signing of this MOU, the United States of America will begin the removal of its naval blockade and any disturbances or impediments against the Islamic Republic of Iran, and will fully end the naval blockade within 30 days. During this period, the traffic of vessels will be in proportion to the numbers of pre-war traffic being restored by the Islamic Republic of Iran. The United States of America further undertakes to remove its forces from the proximity of the Islamic Republic of Iran within 30 days after the final deal.
- Upon the signing of this MOU, Islamic Republic of Iran will make arrangements using its best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels with no charge for 60 days only from the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman, and vice versa, the traffic of commercial vessels will immediately start, and considering the need for removing the technical and military obstacles and demining by the Islamic Republic of Iran will be instated within 30 days. The Islamic Republic of Iran will conduct dialog with the Sultanate of Oman to define the future administration and maritime services in the Strait of Hormuz in discussion with other Persian Gulf or [Gulf] states in line with the applicable international law and the sovereign rights of coastal states of the Strait of Hormuz.
- United States of America undertakes with regional partners to develop a definitive, mutually agreed plan with at least USD $300 billion for the reconstruction and economic development of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The mechanism for the implementation of this plan will be finalized as part of a final deal within 60 days. All required licenses, waivers, and permissions needed for the relevant financial transactions will be granted by the United States of America.
- The United States of America undertakes to terminate all types of sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran, including the United Nations Security Council resolutions, i.e. a Board of Governors resolutions, and all unilateral US sanctions, primary and secondary, in an agreed upon schedule as part of the final deal. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America acknowledge the critical importance of the sanctions termination issue above mentioned and expressed their intentions to immediately address these issues in the negotiations in order to achieve mutual agreement on them to paragraph eight. Islamic Republic of Iran reaffirms that it shall not procure or develop nuclear weapons. United States of America and Islamic Republic of Iran have agreed to resolve the disposition of stockpile enriched material pursuant to a mechanism that will be mutually agreed upon in accordance with the schedule mentioned in paragraph seven, with the minimum methodology to be down blending on site under the supervision of the IAEA.
- The two parties also agreed to discuss the issue of enrichment and other mutually agreed matters related to the Islamic Republic of Iran’s nuclear needs, based on a satisfactory framework being agreed upon in the final deal. The final deal will confirm the provisions of this paragraph. The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran acknowledge the critical importance of the nuclear issues above mentioned and express their intention to immediately address these issues in the negotiations in order to achieve mutual agreement on them.
- Pending the final deal, the United States of America and Islamic Republic of Iran agree to maintain the status quo. The Islamic Republic of Iran will maintain the current status quo of its nuclear program and the United States of America will not impose any new sanctions and will not deploy additional forces in the region.
- The United States of America undertakes that immediately upon the signing of MOU until the termination of sanctions, US Department of Treasury will issue waivers for the export of Iranian crude oil, petroleum products, and derivatives, and all associated services, including banking transactions, insurances, transportation, etc.
- The United States of America undertakes to make fully available for use the frozen or restricted funds and assets of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Upon the implementation of this MOU, the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran will mutually agree on the procedures related to the release of these funds during the negotiations. Such funds, whether retained in the original account or transferred, shall be made fully usable for payment to any ultimate beneficiary designed by the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The United States of America undertakes to issue all necessary licenses and authorizations accordingly.
- The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran agree that an executive mechanism will be established to monitor the successful implementation of this MOU and the future compliance of the final deal.
- After signing this MOU, and subject to the beginning of the implementation of paragraphs 1, 4, 5, 10, and 11 of the MOU, and the continuing implementation of these measures, the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran will start negotiations regarding the final deal exclusively on the other paragraphs.
- The final deal will be endorsed by a binding UNSC resolution.
This all reminds me of when Trump made Bibi apologize for bombing Hamas headquarters in Qatar. This peace deal does not require an apology from Bibi, but it requires a more threatening compromise from Israel. Somewhere, JD Vance has pushed some kind of button in Trump’s head to make this all happen. I think Vance believes his presidential prospects are not being sufficiently supported by Trump and this will be the fuel he needs.
@ppksky
Something to think about here. Bibi apologized to the Emir of Qatar because he had targeted the Hamas leadership supposedly without notifying Trump. This is not a credible possibility, and if that is so, the entire apology scene was rigged for public consumption.
The US was responsible for monitoring the entire theater of operations over Israel to detect any form of missiles – recall the THAAD is operated by the US and coordinated with not just Israel but all of the US Arab allies. Note further that this was coordinated thru Centcom, but it oversaw Israeli interests in Israel, but also US interests in Qatar. So for the US to not know that Israel was conducting flights in preparation for the attack would be unlikely, but for the US to have not known about the missiles being fired from Israel or that the missiles were inbound to Qatar is impossible. This would have required multiple levels of catastrophic failures in the US Qatar base and at Centcom to be coordinated simultaneously. At a minimum, very important heads in Centcom would roll in the aftermath of such multidimensional failures, and yet, no heads rolled. So Trump could not have been ignorant of the attack on Qatar, but also Bibi would not have threatened US lives by conducting such an attack on a target close to the US base in Qatar (only 20 miles away) without alerting Trump to what he was doing. Recognizing that Bibi’s main characteristic is risk aversion, the notion that he would fire missiles at a target nearly 1200 miles away and not notify Trump as US forces were only 20 miles from the target site is far simply not believable.
We can argue about what took place afterwards, but it is impossible for anyone to logically deduce that Trump did not know about the Qatar attack, IMO.
And recall what came afterwards. Bibi notified the entire Arab world that we will reach anyone anywhere who strikes us. The result of that strike was pure fear among the Sunnis as they all moved to form alliances to counter the threat from Israel. Trump made Bibi apologize to Qatar, and also extended US protection to Qatar, which tantamount already existed since the 12 square mile US base in Qatar is only 20 miles from Doha. He later extended a similar protection to the Saudis, but without gaining any benefit for having done so. Yet note what Trump did not do. He did not treat Bibi with the slightest degree of venom which we have seen in recent days when he attacked Beirut, despite the fallout which followed the Qatar attack. I would argue that this is another telling indication that Trump was not unaware of what was going to take place in Doha.
So, was the results of the Doha attack all planned or was it chaos in the making without fully appreciating the fallout from the Israeli attack on the Hamas leadership in Qatar. I think this is debatable, but I don’t think it is easy to debate that Trump was not informed about the Israeli attack on Qatar.