The memorandum of understanding signed electronically Sunday and scheduled for final signature Friday contains 14 points [2]. One of them restates Iran's long-held position that it will not seek a nuclear weapon [2]. Zero of them address Iran's current stockpile of enriched uranium or the future of its nuclear programme [2]. Those negotiations begin after the signing and run for 60 days [2].
The immediate terms are concrete. The US lifts its naval blockade on Iranian ports [2]. The Strait of Hormuz reopens [2]. Washington issues sanctions waivers for Iran's fossil fuel industry [2]. Fighting ends on all fronts between the two countries [2]. Both sides maintain their current "status quo" on nuclear matters [2].
The deferred list is longer. Iran's enriched uranium stockpile goes into a 60-day negotiation window [2]. So does the future of its nuclear programme [2]. So does Iran's support for proxies in the region [2]. So does future administration of the Strait of Hormuz [2]. The MOU serves as what both governments call "a launch point" for talks on what they describe as "more entrenched issues" [2].
The $300 billion reconstruction package carries a condition [2]. Trump said Wednesday the money would flow "if they're doing things right" [2]. No schedule exists for its release [2]. Trump also said the US has frozen Iranian assets and would need to return them, adding "If we didn't give it back, nobody would ever invest in the dollar again" [2]. The full removal of sanctions and unfreezing of billions in assets would proceed on an unspecified timeline [2].
Trump has issued four different deadlines in two weeks. On March 21, he gave Iran 48 hours to comply or face strikes on its electrical grid [1]. On Tuesday, he set an 8pm deadline for Iran to open the strait or face attacks on power plants and bridges [1]. On Thursday, he said he had cancelled scheduled missile strikes [1]. On Wednesday at the G7 Summit in Evian, France, he said the Friday signing "could still fall through" but might happen "tomorrow, maybe the next day" [2]. A senior US official read the MOU's 14 points to reporters [2]. Both sides remain free to walk away until Friday despite Sunday's electronic signature [2].
Senator Mark Kelly, a Democrat, said "A month of negotiations with Iran produced a page and half deal that nobody's allowed to look at" [2]. Trump said throughout Wednesday that Washington would resume bombing if Iran does not "behave" [2]. He also said "Deals are amazing. I've done them all my life" and referenced deals that were "100 percent" but did not happen [2]. Then: "you never know with deals" [2]. Then: "I think it will be done" [2].
Iran has now promised three times in international agreements never to seek a nuclear weapon [2].
The first was the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1970 [2]. The second was the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in 2015 [2]. Whether this third commitment proves more durable than its predecessors may depend less on the text of Friday's memorandum than on what Trump called Wednesday "the hardest part, actually doing it" [2].
