The Trump administration is touting the Iran-US agreement, which was signed electronically by Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. Senior US officials said Monday that it would result in the immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the end of the US blockade, and a 60-day window to negotiate on Iran’s nuclear capability.
But beyond that summary, specifics are elusive. In the same conversation with reporters, one US official suggested to reporters that there would be a “significant increase” in traffic in the strait in two weeks, while another official suggested the strait could reopen on Friday — when the US and Iran are scheduled to participate in a formal signing ceremony.
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, told Semafor she wants any deal to block Iran’s nuclear program, open the strait without tolls being charged on shipments, and end Iran’s funding of terrorist groups.
“I do think the president wants to find a way to peace. Whether this actually delivers that or not, yet to be seen. But I’m glad that he’s staying on course,” Ernst said. “Let’s find a way to wrap this up. But I don’t want to end up in the same situation with the [2015 Obama agreement]. I don’t want to end up there again.”
Some finer points of the deal are also unclear. The US is denying reports from Iranian state media indicating that the country would get billions of dollars in frozen assets unlocked in exchange for signing the agreement.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said he “can’t imagine how I would support giving them $300 billion.”
Instead, officials have said the agreement ties things like the release of frozen funds, sanctions relief, and a multibillion-dollar fund for rebuilding Iran to the “performance” of its government.
“I think what you’ll see is that we are prepared to release frozen funds, and we are prepared to release sanctions,” the second US official told reporters. “And we’ll do some small gestures of that in the beginning, if they make some small gestures to us to show that they’re willing to meet their commitments as well.”
The text of the signed memorandum of understanding has not been made public. One of the US officials said that the administration plans to release it, although a timeline on that is unclear too, with Trump suggesting it would be after Friday’s signing.
Many Trump allies are openly frustrated by what they have heard about the deal. It doesn’t, for example, immediately resolve Trump’s core goal of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Instead, it simply sets the stage for what US officials have called further “technical” talks on the topic.
A White House official said in a statement to Semafor that the administration “will continue our long history of extraordinary levels of transparency with the Hill, as we maintained throughout the course of this conflict.”
Some war-weary Republicans were eager to endorse the agreement — if the fine print matches the administration’s summary. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said the “peace process is a good one,” while Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said it was “great” that the administration secured a ceasefire and a reopening of the strait.
“My biggest concern is the other people: These guys are religious fanatics. They are not logical. We have to trust but verify,” Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., told Semafor. “What the president has outlined, to me, sounds really good.”
