[This post was also published in the 20jun26 edition of The Union.]
George Rebane
The much touted memorandum of understanding is an exhibit of Trump’s weakest and desperate attempt to get some kind, any kind, of an agreement with the perennially recalcitrant Iranian thugs to get Hormuz to some semblance of ‘open’. Unabashedly our president is giving up much while claiming progress toward a lasting mid-east peace. Instead, as I’ve stated before, he is snatching defeat from the jaws of victory by refusing to start the systematically staged destruction of Iran’s infrastructure – IMHO the only path to a true solution and victory over the mullahs. Here is a summary of how the MOU falls short of its celebrated PR campaign.
Based on the details surrounding the June 2026 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the United States and Iran, several key provisions demanded by President Trump and his administration were notably excluded or deferred.
While the announced framework focuses on ending direct hostilities and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, here are the key demands that will not be explicitly enforced in the MOU:
- Immediate Surrender of Highly Enriched Uranium: Trump explicitly demanded that the MOU include concrete steps for the U.S. to immediately secure Iran’s highly enriched uranium and impose a complete moratorium on its nuclear program. Instead, the agreement defers these issues to a 60-day window for further technical negotiations.
- Limits on the Ballistic Missile Program: The administration heavily pushed for strict curbs on Iran’s missile development capabilities. According to leaked details from Iranian state-affiliated media, the missile program is explicitly excluded from the scope of the MOU and any future negotiations.
- Cessation of Support for Regional Proxies: The U.S. sought to include a binding commitment from Iran to stop funding, arming, and supporting its allied armed groups across the Middle East. Like the missile program, this has reportedly been left off the negotiation agenda entirely.
- Concrete Mechanisms for Securing the Strait of Hormuz: Trump asked for tightened, non-negotiable language guaranteeing the U.S. terms for reopening the strait. However, the final text reportedly leaves the reopening subject to “Iranian arrangements,” falling short of the strict U.S.-controlled guarantees initially demanded.
Both sides are currently racing to control the narrative of the agreement, but the text ultimately defers the most contentious nuclear issues and entirely sidesteps Iran’s broader regional military network. That is what political surrender looks like.
[21jun26 update] In Switzerland the MOU is now being hammered into a permanent agreement with Iran to stop the war. The exercise is one of utter futility since it is negotiated with the same theocratic regime of thugs practicing taquia (q.v.) who continue to pursue their goal of ‘Death to Israel and America’ and worldwide domination by Shiia Islam. The administration has allowed its red line of promised regime change to disappear in the rearview mirror while naively claiming that magically the current regime now consists of “reasonable leadership”. Meanwhile more and more independent and conservative observers are beginning to express their own doubts that any lasting peace can be achieved without regime change. Prominent rightwing publications like the WSJ and commentators are editorializing on President Trump’s “startling admission of US weakness” (here and here). The Rebane Doctrine record on regime change is longstanding on these pages.
rebanesruminations.com 
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