Trump and Iranian president e-sign preliminary memorandum to end conflict

Update, 9:16 p.m.:

President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday night both digitally signed a preliminary 14-point memorandum of understanding to end the war between the United States and Iran. As a result of the agreement, Iran will immediately reopen the Strait of Hormuz and the United States will end its naval blockade of Iranian ships, according to Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who announced the signing.  Sharif offered his congratulations to both leaders, as well as their negotiating teams. 

It remains unclear if a scheduled signing of written documents will still take place in Switzerland on Friday.

Original story:

President Donald Trump clarified on Wednesday that the war-ending deal brokered with Iran earlier this week is more of a tentative mutual understanding than a binding agreement. The United States could resume attacking if the agreement isn’t up to snuff, he said. If Iran doesn't like the deal and starts misbehaving, the United States will start dropping bombs on them again, Trump added.

While talking with reporters on Wednesday, Trump also pushed back on emerging reports of a $300 billion fund tied to the memorandum of understanding with Iran. The United States isn’t investing 10 cents, but other countries are free to invest what they’d like, Trump said.

The president’s comments came on the sidelines of a summit for leading industrialized nations in France, where the topic of the Middle East conflict took center stage. Trump reported that G7 leaders gathered in Evian, France, were thrilled about the peace deal with Iran, adding that no one aside from himself could have made the deal.

What does the memorandum of understanding say? The Trump administration released a transcript of the draft on Wednesday. You can read the 14-point agreement here.

What are the Iranians saying? Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi characterized the deal on Tuesday as a two-phase agreement. The first phase, already underway, included the initial memorandum of mutual understanding that ended the war on all fronts, including in Lebanon, Araqchi said. The initial memorandum included negotiations on ending the war and additional agreements around the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. Navy’s blockade of Iran, the release of Iran’s frozen assets, and other related issues.

Both sides have planned to formally sign the initial memorandum at a ceremony Friday in Switzerland. The signing would then kick off about two more months of negotiations to broker a final, lasting peace agreement, Araqchi said. The final agreement will include decisions about nuclear-related issues and lifting sanctions, he said.

Dig deeper: Listen to Nick Eicher and Myrna Brown’s discussion on The World and Everything in It with a military analyst and former U.S. Special Forces officer who questions the impact of Iran’s new agreement.