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More from World<\/p>\nThe US-Iran MoU expires Monday with sanctions, the Strait of Hormuz and future negotiations unresolved as both sides accuse each other of breaching the June agreement <\/p>\n
The US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) expires on Monday, with no agreement in sight on whether to extend it or return to negotiations. Tehran says Washington failed to meet key commitments under the June deal, while the US has continued its military and economic pressure on Iran. The Strait of Hormuz, sanctions and Iran\u2019s nuclear programme remain among the biggest points of contention.<\/p>\n
US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian electronically signed the MoU on June 17 following rare high-level talks hosted by Pakistan. It sought to end more than three months of war that had killed thousands and severely disrupted commercial activity across the Gulf, particularly oil and gas exports relied on globally.<\/p>\n
The agreement aimed to secure an immediate diplomatic end to the fighting, while leaving complex issues surrounding Iran\u2019s nuclear programme for later negotiations. It also included efforts to resolve the conflict in Lebanon.<\/p>\n
Under the MoU, Iran and the US \u201cdeclare the immediate and permanent termination of military operations\u201d. A subsequent \u201cfinal deal\u201d would \u201cconfirm the permanent termination of the war on all fronts\u201d.<\/p>\n
That final agreement was to receive UN Security Council backing and be reached within a maximum of 60 days, although both sides could agree to extend the deadline.<\/p>\n
More from World<\/p>\n
The US committed to ending its naval blockade within 30 days, withdrawing its forces from areas near Iran after the final deal and starting work on a reconstruction and development package worth at least $300bn.<\/p>\n
Washington also agreed to terminate sanctions against Iran, issue waivers for Iranian oil exports and allow Tehran access to frozen funds.<\/p>\n
Iran, for its part, was expected to clear mines from the Strait of Hormuz and allow ships to pass \u201cwith no charge\u201d for 60 days. Tehran also reaffirmed that it would not seek nuclear weapons and agreed to negotiate issues including enrichment, with the details to be incorporated into a final UN-backed deal.<\/p>\n
Ceasefire claims quickly turn into a blame game<\/p>\n
The agreement soon ran into disputes over its interpretation and implementation. The US and Iranian versions differed slightly, while both sides disagreed over whether the MoU represented a ceasefire or a more permanent settlement.<\/p>\n
By June 27, Trump described Iranian strikes in the region as \u201ca foolish violation\u201d of the deal. Tehran countered that US strikes \u201cviolate Article 1 of the Memorandum of Understanding\u201d.<\/p>\n
Trump declared the agreement \u201cover\u201d on July 7. The US then continued attacks on Iran, including strikes on what Tehran described as civilian infrastructure, killing at least 50 people.<\/p>\n
Iranian officials said Washington had \u201cviolated and suspended\u201d all its commitments and that Tehran had \u201clikewise suspended all our own commitments\u201d.<\/p>\n
The dispute also affected the financial commitments in the agreement. The US has not fully lifted sanctions on Iran, while Trump has rejected the idea of paying Tehran for reconstruction.<\/p>\n
Instead, he suggested Iran should compensate families of protesters it had killed \u201cover the last 50 years\u201d as well as \u201call the people they have killed and gravely wounded with their roadside bombs and many conflicts\u201d.<\/p>\n
Hormuz becomes the central pressure point<\/p>\n
The Strait of Hormuz has emerged as one of the biggest unresolved issues since the agreement was signed. Shipping has not returned to normal, with Iranian and US officials continuing to insist that their side controls the waterway.<\/p>\n
Tehran has demanded sanctions relief and the release of frozen assets before the strait fully reopens.<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, the Pentagon said it fired on a Panama-flagged cargo vessel in the strait because it \u201cviolated the US blockade against Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran was separately working with Oman on new shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz. He stressed, however, that such an arrangement would depend on reaching a political solution.<\/p>\n
In the latest developments, Qatar and Pakistan have continued to exchange messages with Iran as mediators, but Tehran has yet to decide whether it will resume negotiations with Washington.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have not yet made a decision to restart negotiations with the United States,\u201d Araghchi said in a post on Telegram on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Iran prepares for tougher negotiations<\/p>\n
Recent changes in Iran\u2019s national security leadership could shape any future talks.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, former IRGC chief Mohsen Rezaei took over as head of Iran\u2019s Supreme National Security Council, the country\u2019s top security body. Analysts told Al Jazeera that the appointment was intended to improve coordination between military and civilian operations.<\/p>\n
Mostafa Khoshcheshm, professor at the University of Applied Sciences in Tehran, said Rezaei\u2019s appointment and other leadership changes \u201cshows Iran believes it has the upper hand\u201d.<\/p>\n
Khoshcheshm said Tehran could enter future negotiations with additional demands, including an end to the war in Gaza, the lifting of sanctions and the blockade of Yemen, and even the denuclearisation of Israel.<\/p>\n
He said Iran believes Washington failed to deliver on several commitments, including releasing Iranian assets, lifting sanctions, ending its naval blockade and ensuring Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ceasefire stopped and was rendered obsolete after the US didn\u2019t comply with the terms of the agreement, or the MoU,\u201d Khoshcheshm told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, formally, on paper, it is said the deadline has ended,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Trump raises the stakes over Hormuz<\/p>\n
Trump has meanwhile escalated his rhetoric over the waterway and Washington\u2019s campaign of economic pressure against Tehran.<\/p>\n
Speaking to supporters in New York on Friday, Trump said the US would soon claim the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter we finish defeating Iran, which is being very badly defeated, pretty soon I\u2019ll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also warned that Washington would impose measures on Iran that have \u201cnever been seen\u201d.<\/p>\n
Tehran claims victory<\/p>\n
Iranian leaders have continued to portray the June agreement as a success for Tehran.<\/p>\n
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Galibaf told reporters in Tehran on Saturday that the concessions Iran secured under the MoU were \u201ca source of pride and victory\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can say with complete conviction that we truly emerged victorious in this war, both militarily and politically,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The US-Iran MoU expires Monday with sanctions, the Strait of Hormuz and future negotiations unresolved as both sides…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":252075,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[211,10057,34,27949,69807,2107,23435,69808,6475,12056,7789,34445,3620,9812,53595,21000,50402,101,69,15823,43446,22199,15539,146,224,24940,1080,21001,44973],"class_list":["post-252074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tehran","tag-abbas-araghchi","tag-donald-trump-iran","tag-iran","tag-iran-frozen-assets","tag-iran-hormuz-tensions","tag-iran-nuclear-programme","tag-iran-nuclear-talks","tag-iran-reconstruction-deal","tag-iran-sanctions","tag-iran-supreme-national-security-council","tag-iran-us-negotiations","tag-iran-war-latest-updates","tag-masoud-pezeshkian","tag-mohsen-rezaei","tag-oman-iran-talks","tag-pakistan-iran-talks","tag-qatar-iran-mediation","tag-strait-of-hormuz","tag-tehran","tag-us-iran-ceasefire","tag-us-iran-memorandum-of-understanding","tag-us-iran-sanctions","tag-us-iran-talks","tag-us-iran-tensions","tag-us-iran-war","tag-us-naval-blockade-iran","tag-us-iran-conflict","tag-us-iran-deal","tag-us-iran-mou"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252074"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252074\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}