President Donald Trump’s administration has struggled for months with over-promising and under-delivering on a peace deal with Iran. Now, they’re approaching their latest bid for peace with rhetoric that promises little and leaves what will be delivered as a question mark.The White House has claimed that its memorandum of understanding — set to be signed alongside Iranian officials in Switzerland on Friday — has “solved a threat Washington spent forty years managing.” Critics and allies alike are confused and even outraged by that claim, asserting that the deal at best resets the board to the pre-war status quo.A U.S. official speaking to reporters on Wednesday via a phone conference characterized the memorandum as a first step to normalizing the Islamic Republic, describing the economic benefits as an incentive for Iran to “dial up their good behavior.”
“This is fundamentally an agreement that allows us to open the Strait of Hormuz immediately, commits the Iranians to destroying the nuclear dust, and then gives us a dial where if the Iranians dial up their good behavior, we respond by dialing up the kind of economic and sanctions relief that could make them a more prosperous country,” a senior U.S. official told reporters on the press call.U.S. President Donald Trump departs after a news conference at the G7 summit, Wednesday, June 17, 2026, in Evian-les-Bains, France. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
