Trump signs 14-point memorandum with Iran: oil, Hormuz and civil nuclear program

Donald Trump signed a paper copy of the memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran at the Palace of Versailles on Tuesday, June 17, after the G7 dinner hosted by Emmanuel Macron. Hours earlier, the Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian had signed the same text in Tehran. The document—baptized Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding by Pakistani mediation—puts an operational end to a war that broke out on February 28, 2026 and establishes a 14-point framework to negotiate a definitive agreement within a maximum period of 60 days.

Washington published the full text on June 17-18, after days of criticism for the opacity of the process. A senior US official read it before international media; Matching versions appeared on CNN, the BBC and NPR. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had announced the agreed text on June 12; On Sunday the 15th, Vice President JD Vance and the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament Ghalibaf signed it digitally, with Trump as a witness.

The 14 points, in summary

The memorandum is not the final treaty: it is a negotiating framework that takes effect immediately on several fronts while Washington and Tehran discuss binding details. These are the axes confirmed by the text released by the US administration:

«This was not easy.»

Oil pressure: what Trump said at the G7

At the G7 press conference in Évian-les-Bains, Trump explicitly recognized the economic urgency behind the agreement. According to The Hill and ABC News, warned of a "bedlam" (chaos) scenario if the Strait of Hormuz remained closed: the global reserves of oil would run out in approximately four weeks, with an economic cost of 500 to 700 million dollars a day while the maritime passage—through which nearly 20% of the world's crude oil and liquefied gas transits—remained blocked.

These figures coincide in spirit with the viral clip that circulated on June 18 on 600 or 700 million per day, we ran out of reserves in 4 weeks. MARGENEZ has verified that Trump articulated that logic at the G7; The editorial tone of the tweet—“surrender,” “Vietnam-type humiliation”—is opinion, not fact documented in the MoU.

Regarding the nuclear program, Trump qualified his previous position: he said that it was "common sense" for Iran to have nuclear energy for electricity, according to The New Republic. The memorandum, however, requires that Tehran reaffirm that it will not develop nuclear weapons and that the enriched uranium be diluted in situ under the supervision of the IAEA, with an interim "status quo" until the final agreement.

300 billion: reconstruction, not compensation

Point 6 of the MoU provides for a reconstruction and economic development plan for a minimum of $300 billion, with an implementation mechanism to be agreed upon in 60 days. US officials clarified to journalists—according to ABC—that Washington is not committed to paying that amount: the fund would be funded by regional partners and sanctions relief allowing investments (e.g. energy infrastructure financed by Emirates or allies). Viral narratives that talk about "paying 300,000 million for war damages" do not coincide with the language of the official text, which speaks of reconstruction and development, not compensatory reparations.

On the immediate financial front, point 10 orders the Treasury Department to issue waivers for the export of Iranian crude oil—a substantial relief for Tehran, subject to sanctions since 2018—and point 11 contemplates making available frozen funds (estimated at around $100 billion in Western media), conditional on future compliance. The total lifting of sanctions is scheduled in the final agreement in point 7.

What remains pending?

Several pieces are still up in the air. Iran said through Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei that there will be no ceremony in Switzerland, despite the fact that US officials maintain the possibility of a formal event with Vance on Friday, June 20, according to CNN. Trump threatened to resume bombing if there is no final agreement in 60 days; Pezeshkian, for his part, needs to support an internal coalition where the supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei endorsed the MoU "with reservations", according to Iranian media cited by the international press.

The Strait of Hormuz – the axis of the global energy shock – should be effectively reopened in the coming hours and days; The markets reacted with a slight decrease in crude oil, although prices remain above pre-conflict levels. The AIEA must verify the down-blending of uranium; Until then, the nuclear status quo of point 9 freezes the status quo in the plant.

In summary: Trump signed a framework that stops the military and oil hemorrhage, publicly admits the economic logic that pushed the agreement and accepts—at least rhetorically—Iranian civil nuclear energy. What is missing—definitive sanctions, reconstruction, troop withdrawal and final nuclear architecture—depends on 60 days of negotiations in which both parties have already demonstrated that they prefer the imperfect pact to continuing to pay the price of war.