Reuters reports that US President Trump signed a copy of the US-Iran MOU to end their war on Wednesday while he was still in France, and President Pezeshkian of Iran held up a mutually signed copy of the MOU on Iranian TV later in the day.

Given Iran’s history of not abiding by the agreements it signs, the first takeaway should be that none of us should take the document seriously. Yes, the fighting will stop and the Strait of Hormuz will be open toll-free as long as the MOU is in place, but one can almost guarantee that it will not survive its 60-day period and will not move to the second phase of the understanding. Agreements like these in this region rarely successfully move to phase two.

For example, we should all remember that the war with Hamas in Gaza ended with a formal acceptance of a truce agreement on October 3, 2025. Yet the formal transition to phase two of the Gaza truce and peace plan, which outlines measures like demilitarization and the transition to a technocratic interim government in Gaza, has remained heavily stalled due to ongoing disagreements and localized fighting, even though President Trump announced its start on January 14, 2026.

So, eight months after that agreement went into effect, there is still no second phase, Israel is still heavily involved in skirmishes in Gaza, and Hamas is rebuilding its operational structure and firepower. Some peace agreement is it not? But it does demonstrate the realities of such negotiations in this region.

The US-Iran MOU in the very first paragraph says: “The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States, together with their allies in the current war, declare upon the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding an immediate and permanent end to the war on all fronts, including Lebanon, and undertake that from now on they will not launch any hostile action against each other, and will refrain from the threat or use of force against each other.”

Israel, of course, was not a party to the discussions and does not believe that there are any restraints on its responding to attacks by Hezbollah against Israel. However, according to Reuters, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei addressed the terms of the memorandum of understanding signed with the US, claiming that “if Israel’s attacks in Lebanon continue – it will be considered a violation of the agreement.”

Expanding on that, an Iranian official close to........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)