Trump and Iran Sign 14-Point Memorandum of Understanding: Key Details on Lebanon, Sovereignty, and Unanswered Questions

The United States has provided the first detailed readout of a 14-point memorandum of understanding (MoU) reached with Iran on Wednesday, although no physical copy has been released by either party. The accord, which had been scheduled for signing in Switzerland on Friday, was ultimately signed by U.S. President Donald Trump in Versailles. The text, read by a U.S. official during a press call, represents the clearest outline yet of the emerging agreement, but Iranian officials have not publicly confirmed the U.S. version, and experts note that many significant details remain ambiguous.

The first clause of the MoU commits both nations to the “immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon,” and affirms respect for Lebanon’s “territorial integrity and sovereignty.” However, Israel — which currently occupies one-fifth of Lebanon and has conducted near-daily strikes since early March, killing at least 3,000 people and displacing more than one million — is not a party to the agreement. Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz reiterated this week that Israeli forces will remain in security zones in Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza indefinitely. Iran has long insisted that a halt to Israeli operations in Lebanon is a prerequisite for any broader deal; in April, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf publicly listed a ceasefire in Lebanon and the unfreezing of Iranian assets as non-negotiable red lines.

The second paragraph of the MoU states that the U.S. and Iran will “undertake to respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and to refrain from interfering in each other’s internal affairs,” effectively signaling that Washington has abandoned any goal of regime change in Tehran. President Trump distanced himself from that aim at the G7 summit in France this week, claiming he “never cared about regime change” even as he continued to assert — without evidence — that the ongoing assault on Iran had already achieved such change. The agreement does not address Iran’s support for proxy groups across the region, including Hezbollah, leaving a major point of contention unresolved.

The MoU also leaves untouched several other critical issues: Iran’s uranium enrichment program, maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz, and the status of Iranian assets frozen overseas. While the documents sketch a framework for de-escalation, analysts say the absence of enforcement mechanisms, the exclusion of key stakeholders like Israel, and the lack of Iranian confirmation cast doubt on whether the agreement can lead to a lasting peace.