WASHINGTON, DC – A new deal to end the U.S.-Israel war with Iran is being hailed as a strategic victory by President Donald Trump and his allies, but the specific terms of the deal remain unclear.
Supporters showered the president with praise on Sunday, despite questions about what commitments will be included in the first memorandum of understanding to be signed on Friday, and which issues, such as Iran’s nuclear program, will only be subject to negotiation at the time of the deal.
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U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance highlighted the possibility of a “new era” in the Middle East, noting that oil prices fell immediately after the announcement.
“What the president has done is create a real space for transformation in the region,” he told Fox News, adding, “I think we can say with confidence that Iran will never have nuclear weapons.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio tied the announcement to President Trump’s 80th birthday on Sunday, writing on X: “America is lucky to have a leader of such incredible courage, incredible strength, unparalleled sense of humor, and unparalleled love of our country.”
Several Republicans praised Trump on social media, calling him a “consensus builder in chief.”
Congressman Robert Aderholt echoed President Trump’s assertion that the pending deal with Iran would place more restrictions on Tehran’s nuclear program than the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
The agreement, reached under the administration of President Barack Obama and withdrawn by President Trump in 2018, required Iran to scale back its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. The Iranian government has long maintained that it does not seek nuclear weapons.
“Unlike the deal reached under the Obama administration, this deal prevents Iran from continuing to enrich uranium and produce the components needed to build a nuclear weapon,” Aderholt said.
However, there was no indication that the memorandum contained any immediate commitments regarding Iran’s nuclear program.
Both sides said the initial agreement would halt fighting on all fronts, including Lebanon.
U.S., Pakistani and Iranian officials also said the deal would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and lift the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports.
But Iranian officials have said in recent days that the original deal was only a starting point for 60 days of negotiations over deep-seated issues such as Iran’s nuclear program and future control of the strait.
Both sides have also offered different explanations for when the U.S. would begin unfreezing assets and lifting sanctions as part of the deal. U.S. officials have insisted that such action would not be immediate, but only if certain commitments are met after the deal is signed.
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a longtime supporter of tough military action against Iran, was among those celebrating the apparent breakthrough on Sunday.
Still, he pointed to differences in messages between the United States and Iran.
“I am somewhat concerned that Iran’s view of the deal appears to be different from what the U.S. negotiating team has advocated,” he wrote in a post on X.
Democrats seek clarification
Meanwhile, Democrats have for months questioned whether starting a war with Israel on February 28 actually advanced U.S. interests.
The Trump administration has said its objectives include reducing Iran’s military capabilities and destroying its nuclear program.
President Trump and his administration officials have also said they hope the war will facilitate regime change. That did not happen, and experts say the war has only further calcified the hardline government, despite the killing of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and dozens of other officials.
Khamenei’s son Mojtaba Khamenei then took over his father’s role.
Speaking to NS Now on Saturday, Rep. Seth Moulton decried the terms of the memorandum as “basically a capitulation document from Donald Trump to the Supreme Leader of Iran.”
“So $100 billion of taxpayers’ money has already been put into this war, 14 Americans have died, and we get a deal that just reopens the straits that were already open before he started the war? How is that a victory?” he said.
Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Sunday that President Trump’s “chosen wars were misguided and harmful to American interests.”
Still, he said he welcomed the new focus on diplomacy, even as he called for greater clarity on any deal.
“The American people deserve more than vague announcements and political spin,” he said in a statement.
“They deserve security, clear answers, and confidence that this administration will not repeat the mistakes that led us to this unauthorized and costly war.”
Prospects for further war
Robert Malley, who served as the JCPOA’s chief negotiator under the Obama administration, also called the deal to be signed Friday an “important and welcome outcome” as it was expected to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
“But this memorandum is also a clear indictment of the war that preceded it, since its main achievement is the reopening of waterways that were only closed by the war,” he wrote in a post to X.
“The issues that will have to be addressed after the memorandum is signed – the fate of Iran’s nuclear program, the disposal of enriched uranium, the extent of sanctions relief – will almost certainly be put on the back burner and will almost certainly be more difficult to resolve than before the war,” he said.
Sina Toosi, a senior fellow at the Center for Progressive International Policy think tank, echoed this assessment.
“Don’t get me wrong: If you had told the war’s most vocal cheerleaders in February that this would be the outcome, they would have been appalled,” he said in a post on X.
“There will be no regime change. There will be no Iranian capitulation to Iran’s many extremist demands. This is their worst-case scenario,” he said.
The drop in oil prices has brought a glimmer of hope to President Trump, whose approval ratings have fallen to an all-time low amid the economic damage caused by the war, but it remains to be seen whether negative views of the war will change.
Sixty-day deadlines on several key issues expire in August as the United States enters its final campaign period ahead of November’s midterm elections.
President Trump said in an interview with The New York Times late Friday that he could resume attacks on Iran if a nuclear deal is not reached by then.
Conversely, he said the region could make the United States the “guardian of the Middle East” if it paid 20% of its revenue to Washington.
