The ceasefire deal inked by the United States and Iran on Wednesday, aimed at bringing an end to their costly and destructive war, has been touted a strategic victory by the Islamic Republic – while coming up short on achieving U.S. goals articulated by President Donald Trump.
The agreement grants Iran sizable economic incentives in exchange for opening the Strait of Hormuz and for Tehran’s assurances – as it has done for many years – that it will not develop a nuclear weapon.
Mr. Trump touted the 14-point plan to end the war, which he launched jointly with Israel in a surprise attack against Iran on Feb. 28, while a previous round of negotiations was underway.
Why We Wrote This
The temporary ceasefire agreement reached between the U.S. and Iran is meant to end the war, reopen vital shipping lanes in the Gulf, and address Iran’s nuclear ambitions – at a later time. It includes big economic incentives for Tehran and comes up short on President Donald Trump’s stated goals for starting the war in the first place.
But the provisions of the new memorandum of understanding, or MoU, fall far short of Mr. Trump’s original stated goals of toppling the Islamic Republic: destroying its nuclear program, missile arsenal, and regional network of proxy forces; and forcing Tehran into “unconditional surrender.”
Instead, Iran can immediately begin selling oil, with complete sanctions relief, and access a reconstruction fund of “at least” $300 billion after a final deal is reached that would impose strict limits on Iran’s nuclear program.
Mohammed Aty/Reuters
An escort tug passes the oil tanker Helga as it is berthed at an offshore oil terminal near Basra, Iraq, in the Persian Gulf, April 24, 2026.
The document opens a 60-day window for the U.S. and Iran to address core nuclear and sanctions issues. It commits both sides to the “immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon,” and reopens international shipping through the Strait, which was fully open before the war.
Israel was not a party to the deal, and analysts say a key vulnerability is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s continued fight against the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.
Also unmentioned is Iran’s arsenal of ballistic missiles, which has been used to repeatedly target Israel and Gulf states hosting U.S. forces. Mr. Trump said on Wednesday it would be “unfair” to leave Iran defenseless, without missiles.
An illustration on the front page of Iran’s conservative Hamshahri daily captured the mood in the Islamic Republic. It showed Mr. Trump literally eating his words, by chewing on paper with a list of initial war objectives, under the headline, “Gone with the wind.”
Screenshot from X
An illustration in Iran's conservative Hamshahri daily depicts U.S. President Donald Trump eating his words by chewing on a piece of paper with a list of U.S. objectives in the war against Iran. The headline reads, "Gone with the wind."
Tehran’s top negotiator, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, said Wednesday that the deal proved Iran’s victory. Mr. Qalibaf is the speaker of Iran’s Parliament and one of the highest-ranking officials to avoid assassination during the war.
“In the West, they have described the MoU as America’s defeat,” he told the state-run IRINN channel. “This is their own wording.”
“We obtained through negotiations many times over what we sought to achieve through military actions,” he said. “The two are not even comparable.”
The war reportedly killed at least 3,400 people in Iran alone, sent global energy prices surging, cost the U.S. tens of billions of dollars, and depleted American air-defense missile stocks.
The results of the MoU can’t yet be compared with the 2015 nuclear deal signed under President Barack Obama, which imposed strict, carefully monitored limits on Iran’s nuclear program and was signed by a total of seven countries alongside the European Union. Mr. Trump described that as the “worst deal in history,” tore it up in 2018, and has vowed that a new deal will be a much stronger “wall” that will prevent Iran from ever acquiring a nuclear weapon.
Mohamed Azakir/Reuters
Women carrying a child walk past a mural featuring former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and other Islamist figures, near the burial site of Nasrallah on the outskirts of Beirut, June 17, 2026.
For this 60-day ceasefire, Iran insisted on including an Israel-Hezbollah truce in Lebanon. Iranian officials say a “red line” for them is a renewal of Israeli strikes against targets in and around Beirut. Israeli officials, however, say they will not withdraw Israeli forces from southern Lebanon or halt their attacks.
“Even in the very best scenario, where this memorandum leads to a comprehensive deal and sanctions are removed, as long as the conflict between Iran and Israel is there – and that means as long as the Islamic Republic is there – the Israelis are not going to stop, Iran is not going to stop,” says Hamidreza Azizi, an Ira…
Read the full article at Christian Science Monitor →
United States