MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

US-Iran memorandum sets Hormuz reopening, $300 billion reconstruction and sanctions relief

The memorandum establishes an oversight mechanism for its implementation and provides for the definitive agreement to be ratified by a binding UN Security Council resolution

The United States government on Wednesday released the official text of the agreement reached with Iran to end the war, a 14-point document called the “Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding” that provides for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a reconstruction plan of at least $300 billion and the lifting of sanctions. The text, read by a senior official of Donald Trump's administration, will be signed on Friday in Switzerland and will open a 60-day period to negotiate the definitive agreement.

The memorandum declares the “immediate and permanent termination” of military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon, whose sovereignty and territorial integrity both parties commit to guaranteeing. The United States and Iran also agree to mutually respect their sovereignty and to refrain from interfering in each other's internal affairs.

Regarding the Strait of Hormuz, the United States will begin lifting the naval blockade after the signing and will end it within 30 days, restoring maritime traffic to pre-war levels, and will withdraw its forces from Iran's vicinity within 30 days after the final agreement. Iran, for its part, commits to ensuring the safe passage of merchant ships and to completing the demining of the strait within 30 days, as well as to holding talks with Oman on the future administration of that passage, in consultation with the other coastal states of the Persian Gulf.

On the economic front, the document provides for the United States and its regional partners to develop a plan of at least $300 billion for Iran's reconstruction, as well as the lifting of all sanctions —including those of the UN Security Council, those of the IAEA and unilateral US ones— on an agreed schedule. The Treasury will issue waivers for the export of Iranian oil, and Tehran's frozen funds will be released. The senior US official described the mechanism as a “dial”: economic relief would expand in line with Iranian compliance.

On nuclear matters, Iran reaffirms that it will not acquire or develop nuclear weapons. Both parties agreed to resolve the fate of the enriched material through a joint mechanism, with in-situ denaturing under IAEA supervision as the minimum methodology, and to address the question of enrichment in the final agreement. Until then, the “status quo” will be maintained: Iran will keep its nuclear program's current state and the United States will not impose new sanctions or deploy additional forces.

The memorandum establishes an oversight mechanism for its implementation and provides for the definitive agreement to be ratified by a binding UN Security Council resolution. The pact, however, leaves open questions: missile programs are excluded from the negotiation, the release of some $24 billion in Iranian assets remains in dispute, and Israel, which is not a party, does not recognize the agreement.