US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pajhwok have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to move towards a permanent agreement to end the war.
Trump signed the memorandum of understanding at the Palace of Versailles in the French capital, Paris. He later told reporters before leaving the palace, “It’s signed. I just signed it in Versailles.”
Trump is in France to attend the G-7 summit, an alliance of the world’s developed countries.Read more
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French President Emmanuel Macron posted a short video of Trump signing the memorandum of understanding on social media. He wrote in the post, “President Trump signed the agreement between Iran and the United States tonight in Versailles.”
Iran’s president also confirmed the signing of the memorandum of understanding on Thursday.
“The draft of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding has been finalized with the president’s signature – now it is time to verify the implementation of this agreement,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghai told the country’s state-run IRNA news agency.Read more
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Ismail Baghai said the memorandum of understanding was signed electronically, meaning the presidents of the two countries signed the agreement from two remote locations. He said Iran has no formal plans for it.
The Swiss government had previously said the signing ceremony would take place on Friday local time at a luxury hotel in the mountains of Lake Lucerne, with US Vice President JD Vance and Iranian Parliament Speaker Bagher Ghalibaf in attendance. However, the two countries announced the signing a day earlier.
“When a document is signed by the highest-level officials of both countries, the price for violating it is naturally very high. Based on past experience, we wanted it to be this way,” Ismail Baghai told IRNA.Read more
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Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, who brokered the memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran, posted on Twitter, “It will now be effective immediately.”
Earlier on Wednesday, the United States released a memorandum of understanding with Iran to end the war in the Middle East. A senior US administration official read out the 14-point document.
The memorandum of understanding calls for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the lifting of certain financial sanctions on Iran, and the expectation that Iran’s nuclear program will be addressed in future talks.
A 60-day period will now begin for negotiations on a final agreement between the United States and Iran.
