U.S. - Iran Interim Deal under Threat
By Nino Kopaleishvili
Monday, July 13, 2026
Amid tensions over the Strait of Hormuz and renewed bilateral strikes, peace talks between the United States and Iran to bring the concluded Memorandum of Understanding to realisation and to end the war launched in February, are taking a dubious turn.
On Friday, The U.S. President Donald Trump announced in a Truth Social post that "1000 missiles are locked and loaded" and that he had ordered the U.S. military to carry out massive strikes against the Islamic Republic of Iran in case of any attempts of assassination of the U.S. president. On Saturday, the U.S. military hit 140 Iranian targets to weaken Iran's ability to attack vessels and civilian mariners, a news agency Reuters reports. Early on Sunday, the media reported that the Strait of Hormuz was open to commercial vessels, however, the situation changed during the day.
On Thursday, Iranian state media accused the United States of carrying out an attack near a nuclear power plant, but Washington has not responded to the allegation. Jordan's state-owned Petra News Agency informed that air defence systems "intercepted and shot down" eight missiles, which were launched by the Iranian side on Thursday afternoon, BBC reports.
The tensions between Iran and the United States intensified early Wednesday when in response to attacks on three commercial oil tankers transiting through the Strait of Hormuz in an alternative route, the United States renewed its strikes on Iran. On July 7, the U.S. military hit approximately 80 Iranian targets. The U.S. Central Command forces renewed its strikes on July 8 targeting 90 Iranian military targets "including air defense systems, coastal surveillance assets, missile and drone storage sites, naval capabilities, and military logistics infrastructure along Iran's coastline," a U.S. military statement reads.
The United States also revoked the license on selling the Iranian oil, which has caused oil prices hiked up to around 6% and Brent crude benchmark has reached USD 80 a barrel, according to The Guardian.
In retaliation, Iran issued a warning to countries that host U.S. military bases not to allow their territories to be used for attacks against Iran. Iran has struck back to U.S. military bases in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar causing a harsh criticism of the international community.
On July 8, U.S. President Donald Trump expressed his discontent on how the developments around the peacemaking process have unfolded since mid-June as Iran has not complied to the terms of a deal. Commenting about the interim deal at the NATO summit in Turkey, the U.S. President said: "I think it's over... As far as I am concerned, it's just a waste of time dealing with them," said President Trump as quoted by Reuters.
The strikes between the U.S. and Iran have renewed despite some tangible progress made in the peace talks since June. As Reuters reports in the last round of talks in Doha, the representatives of two countries were discussing transit of traffic in the Strait of Hormuz and release of some frozen Iranian funds, according to sources.
Some officials fear that such developments might question the future of the interim deal.
U.S. -Iran commitments restated in a 14-point document, what is at stake?
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed officially earlier on June 17 has tabled 14 points agreed upon by the negotiating sides last month and a final agreement is to be elaborated within a 60-day framework, which is a subject of extension in case of necessity.
Upon conclusion of the memorandum, the sides have declared their wish to end the war "on all fronts, including Lebanon." According to the document, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States commit "to respect each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity." The sides agree "to refrain from interfering in each other's internal affairs," the MoU says.
The United States commits to lifting the naval blockade and restoration of the full operation of traffic within 30 days. After reaching a final agreement, the United States is expected to withdraw its forces "from the surrounding areas" within 30 days.
On the other hand, the Islamic Republic of Iran is obliged to remove and neutralize all the technical obstacles and mines to ensure the movement of traffic, specifically merchant ships, from the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman and vice versa.
The Islamic Republic of Iran will receive at least USD 300 billion for the rehabilitation and economic development, while the United States, in cooperation with regional partners, creates a comprehensive plan and formulates its implementation mechanism within 60 days of the final negotiations' framework.
The United States commits to ending all types of sanctions against Iran, "including resolutions of the United Nations Security Council and the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and all unilateral U.S. sanctions, both primary and secondary," the document says.
The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States agree that before adopting the final agreement, Iran shall maintain a status quo regarding its nuclear program. The Article 8 of the MoU states that the Islamic Republic of Iran will be expected to comply with the provisions of the article to be mapped out in the Final Agreement regarding its nuclear needs, "the fate of enriched material" and all "nuclear-related issues" provided that Iran "will never produce nuclear weapons."
By signing the Memorandum of Understanding, the United States agrees that the Treasury Department issues "waivers for exports of Iranian crude oil, petrochemical products and their derivatives, and all related services, including banking, insurance, transportation, and the like," according to the Article 10 of the document.
In addition, the United States commits to releasing assets, frozen or restricted funds of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The two sides also agree that a mechanism will be elaborated to ensure a sustainable implementation of the Final Agreement. The Final Agreement is to be approved by the resolution of the UN Security Council.
The Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding was signed by U.S. President Donald Trump in France during the G7 summit, President of Islamic Republic of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian signed the document the same day in Tehran on June 17.