The United States and Iran have signed a memorandum of understanding establishing a framework for broader negotiations aimed at permanently preventing Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and normalizing economic relations, two senior U.S. officials said on Monday.
The memorandum was signed electronically by U.S. President Donald Trump and U.S. Vice President JD Vance on behalf of Washington, and by Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on behalf of Tehran. A formal signing ceremony is scheduled for Friday in Geneva, the officials said.
Questions remain about the agreement’s contents. A U.S. official told reporters the text would be released within 24 to 48 hours, while Trump later indicated it would likely be made public after Friday’s signing ceremony.
“One of our principles here is, we want to have full transparency on this, and there’ll be no side deals, so everything we do will be transparent,“ the official said.
Addressing concerns about Israel, an official said Israel will still have the ability to defend itself against Hezbollah, Iran’s terror proxy in southern Lebanon. Iran insisted a complete regional ceasefire be part of the deal, and Trump harshly criticized an Israeli strike on terror targets in the Beirut suburbs as the memorandum was nearing the finish line.
“The deal is a ceasefire, and it will not be a one-way ceasefire,” the official said. “If Iran is not able to control Hezbollah and if they attack Israeli positions or Israeli towns, Israel will have the right to defend itself and respond.”
The official added that Washington hopes future negotiations could contribute to broader regional stabilization and “hopefully this will help us get the Israel-Lebanon normalization and peace done properly.”
The framework as it’s been presented so far has drawn criticism from Israeli officials and Iran hawks in Washington, many of whom argue it grants Tehran significant concessions while postponing resolution of key issues, including Iran’s nuclear program and peace talks centered around Hezbollah’s neutralization.
‘Provides a structure’
According to administration officials, the memorandum establishes a framework linking sanctions relief, access to frozen Iranian assets and future economic investment to verified Iranian actions on its nuclear program, support for terrorism and other regional activities.
The MOU “provides a structure for how our negotiation, our relationship will operate in the future, and the basic way it works is the more that the Iranians are willing to work with us on their nuclear program, on verifying that they’re not building a nuclear weapon, on not funding radicalism and terrorism in the region, the more that they’re going to be welcomed into the world economy through a combination of sanctions relief and other economic measures,” one of the officials said.
The agreement also provides for the gradual reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and the lifting of the U.S. blockade on Iran, though officials acknowledged it could take weeks to clear mines and restore commercial confidence in the strategic waterway. Maritime traffic has already begun increasing but is not expected to return to normal levels immediately.
Vessels would be allowed to transit the strait toll-free for 60 days, a provision Washington hopes will be included in any final agreement, an official said, adding that there is no long-term guarantee of open access in the pivotal waterway.
The U.S. maritime freedom coordination mechanism, based in Bahrain and operated through U.S. Central Command, will continue assisting commercial shipping during the transition period.
Officials defended the agreement as the product of months of military, diplomatic and economic pressure on Tehran.
“We’ll know over the next two to three weeks whether those understandings” in the MOU “will turn into an actual agreement and whether we can change the course of the region,” an official said, while Iranian media reports have claimed the phased release of funds is mandatory to move to a 60-day window to negotiate on Iran’s nuclear program.
Still, the officials said Washington and Tehran are on the same page in a way that wasn’t possible before.
“One of the really cool things and interesting things about this entire process is that we actually have a direct relationship with a number of people, the highest levels of the Iranian government, that really hasn’t happened in 47 years of our relationship with Iran, and I think it’s one of the reasons why we’ve made significant progress,” an official said.
The Trump administration maintains that Iran is now in a substantially weaker position economically and militarily than before the conflict started on Feb. 28, and argued that Tehran faces a choice between continued isolation or economic reintegration under strict verification measures.
The officials also dismissed reports that U.S. partners, including Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, negotiated separate arrangements with Tehran involving frozen Iranian assets held in their financial institutions.
“We’re their friends. We’ve been in very close coordination, not just during this operation, but for a very long time, an official said. “The idea that any of these countries would cut side deals with Iranians is not just unlikely, but preposterous.”
The officials said U.S. force levels in the region will remain unchanged during negotiations, with any future drawdown dependent on a final agreement and Iranian compliance.
Technical talks are expected to continue in the coming weeks. While expressing optimism that the memorandum could lead to a broader settlement, U.S. officials stressed that Washington retains substantial military and economic leverage should talks fail.
