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President Donald Trump, flanked by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, speaks during a press conference, during the G7 Summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, June 17, 2026.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nEvelyn Hockstein\/Reuters<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nTrump does not\u00a0yet\u00a0have a final nuclear agreement with Iran. He\u00a0struck the MOU\u00a0to end the current\u00a0war, commit\u00a0to future\u00a0nuclear\u00a0negotiations,\u00a0and\u00a0for Iran\u00a0to reopen the Strait of Hormuz\u00a0in exchange for some immediate\u00a0sanctions\u00a0relief and the lifting of the U.S. naval blockade.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s\u00a0more of a cease-fire agreement than a nuclear agreement. The future nuclear program is left to be negotiated in a 60-day period. Iran does commit not to acquire a nuclear weapon (just as it did in the JCPOA), but no enforcement mechanism is yet decided.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Diplomacy vs. war\u00a0<\/h3>\n Perhaps the\u00a0biggest difference is how each\u00a0administration\u00a0got to their agreements. The Obama\u00a0administration\u00a0engaged in a tedious,\u00a020-month long diplomatic negotiation.<\/p>\n
The Trump administration tried for months on a diplomatic path but\u00a0ultimately decided\u00a0the threat from Iran was too acute.<\/p>\n
In July 2025,\u00a0Trump bombed Iran\u2019s nuclear\u00a0facilities\u00a0in dramatic fashion, setting its program back\u00a0by as many as two years, according to experts.<\/p>\n
Months later, in coordination with Israel, the U.S.\u00a0launched Operation Epic Fury, aimed at further destroying nuclear\u00a0sites\u00a0and degrading\u00a0Iran\u2019s military capability.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Iran responded by choking off the critical oil passage in the Strait of Hormuz\u00a0and launching counterattacks aimed at U.S. bases and Gulf nations.\u00a0In the meantime,\u00a0Israel was engaged in a war with Iranian proxy forces\u00a0in Lebanon.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Thirteen American service\u00a0members were killed in Epic Fury and\u00a0the war is estimated to have cost the American taxpayer well over $25 billion to date.<\/p>\n
Sanctions relief\u00a0<\/h3>\n Both deals provided significant financial relief for Iran.\u00a0But the biggest difference between the deals is what the world got in exchange for that relief.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The JCPOA unfroze tens of billions of Iranian\u00a0monies\u00a0held overseas and lifted crippling economic sanctions imposed\u00a0by\u00a0the U.S., the European\u00a0Union\u00a0and the United Nations. It freed Iran’s central bank to\u00a0operate\u00a0in the global\u00a0economy\u00a0and lifted restrictions on Iranian oil\u00a0exports.\u00a0And, yes, it included cash transfers of previously seized assets\u00a0amounting\u00a0to\u00a0$1.7 billion. All combined, it was an economic windfall for Iran.<\/p>\n
In exchange Iran agreed to reduce its nuclear\u00a0centrifuges\u00a0by two-thirds,\u00a0committed not to build new enrichment facilities for 15 years, significantly reduced its stockpile of enriched uranium, disabled a major heavy-water reactor and agreed to IAEA inspections. Critics said at the time the inspections were not intrusive\u00a0enough,\u00a0and that the agreement was\u00a0time-limited,\u00a0rather than a permanent solution.<\/p>\n
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Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran, May 22, 2026.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nMajid Asgaripour\/West Asia News Agency via Reuters<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nThe Trump MOU, on the other hand, also lifted oil restrictions, promised\u00a0to help create a\u00a0$300 billion reconstruction fund in Iran with regional partners, and dangled the promise of sweeping sanctions relief if the two sides could reach a broader nuclear deal.\u00a0But most of the sanctions relief\u00a0is\u00a0contingent on future negotiations that haven’t yet materialized.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In exchange for these things, along with the lifting of the naval blockade, the U.S. got Iran to agree to open the Strait of Hormuz. But that is simply a return to\u00a0pre-war status quo. In fact, the status quo might never be achieved in that critical economic waterway, through which\u00a020%\u00a0of the world\u2019s oil passes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Point 5 of the 14-point MOU\u00a0states\u00a0the strait will be toll-free for\u00a060 days, but after that Iran will work with neighboring Oman to \u201cdefine\u00a0future administration and maritime services\u201d in the strait. That means tolls are not ruled out down the road.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Selling the\u00a0deal\u00a0<\/h3>\n When Obama announced the\u00a0JCPOA\u00a011 years ago, he called it the \u201cstrongest non-proliferation agreement ever negotiated.\u201d\u00a0He acknowledged concerns of\u00a0critics and\u00a0noted that Iran would get billions in sanctions. He also acknowledged that some preferred war or surgical strikes\u00a0over his deal. He argued his deal wasn’t perfect, but was the best option.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Speaking after the G7 summit in France on Wednesday, Trump also praised his own deal, saying it achieved \u201ceverything\u00a0we\u00a0set out to accomplish\u00a0and more.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
But he also admitted he needed to make the deal to avoid \u201ceconomic catastrophe.\u201d\u00a0After claiming for months that Iran had \u201cno cards\u201d to play, he conceded that the economic pain resulting from the oil crisis was too risky.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u00a0didn’t\u00a0want to see\u00a0economic\u00a0catastrophe,” Trump said. “If you kept this going, that could have happened. But all I know is, every time we talked about the possibility of peace, the stock market shot up like a rocket ship.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He went on to say he feared sending the country into a \u201cdepression\u201d and that he could one day be compared to Herbert Hoover, the 31st president who is often blamed for the Great Depression.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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