JUNE 17, 2026
US and Iran sign tentative memorandum of understanding to end war, reopen Strait of Hormuz, and launch 60-day nuclear talks
The United States and Iran reached a memorandum of understanding, signed digitally by President Trump and Vice President Vance on Sunday, that commits both sides to a ceasefire, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and the start of a 60-day window for technical negotiations toward a final deal. A formal signing ceremony is scheduled for Friday, June 19, at the Bürgenstock Resort in Switzerland, with Pakistan and Qatar serving as mediators. The 14-point document commits Iran to never producing a nuclear weapon and the US to issuing immediate sanctions waivers on Iranian oil exports, while leaving Iran's nuclear program, proxy forces, and ballistic missiles to future negotiations.
The draft memorandum of understanding, copies of which were obtained by CNN and corroborated by multiple diplomatic sources, lays out the terms of the ceasefire, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and limited immediate financial relief for Iran. The US will issue sanctions waivers allowing Iran to sell oil and petrochemicals immediately, lift its naval blockade of Iranian ports, and commit to eventually lifting all American and United Nations sanctions against Tehran — concessions that go beyond what was offered in the 2015 Iran nuclear accord. Iran, in turn, pledges to restore ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz to prewar levels within 30 days and reiterates that it will never develop a nuclear weapon.
The agreement's practical terms are complicated by unresolved questions. The draft text does not name the Strait of Hormuz explicitly, referring instead to maritime traffic "from the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman," and leaves the waterway's future legal status open to interpretation. Iran's Foreign Ministry said vessels would pay "service fees" for navigation facilities rather than tolls; maritime law experts told NPR and The New York Times that international law provides no basis for any coastal-state charge on passage through a natural waterway, regardless of how it is labeled. Roughly 1,500 vessels remain stranded inside the Persian Gulf, and industry analysts told NPR they expect reopening to be a gradual process requiring confirmed mine clearance and sustained confidence that the agreement is holding. The US, UK, and France are conducting demining operations; a US official said the southern route off Oman was already moving 25 ships per day, with a target of full opening by Friday.
The $300 billion reconstruction fund outlined in the draft generated significant coverage across all outlets. Trump said at the G7 that the US would not contribute and denied asking Gulf states to do so; Vice President Vance attributed the figure to expected Gulf Arab investment. Reuters reported that commitments exceeding $150 billion have already been secured across five regions, with no government funds in the vehicle and the fund kept separate from frozen-asset talks. The White House also disputed that any of Iran's frozen assets — estimated by analysts at between $124 billion and $167 billion — have been released, saying "$0 of unfrozen assets have been released." Iranian state-linked media described the framework as already containing commitments on frozen asset access and future US military reductions in the region; White House officials rejected that characterization.