The U.S.-Iran Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to end the war with Iran is as feeble for U.S. and allied interests as the war was foolish. The MOU provides Iran immediate, significant financial benefits and defers the instrumental question of Iran’s nuclear program to future talks. As the U.S. intelligence community has assessed, it is highly unlikely that Iran will make substantive nuclear concessions.

The Trump administration disputes this. It insists the MOU does not front load any significant benefits to Tehran. Administration officials claim that in return for removing U.S. sanctions and enabling international investments into Iran, the Islamic Republic must first verify that it has ended its multi-decade nuclear threat. At the White House on Thursday, Vice President JD Vance was challenged on this point. A journalist noted that the MOU’s restoration of Iranian oil exports would feasibly allow Iran to generate millions of dollars to fund terrorism.