Trump Signs US-Iran Deal at Versailles, Ending 110-Day War
🤖 AI Generated ImagePresident Donald Trump signed the US-Iran memorandum of understanding at the Palace of Versailles on June 17, during a candlelit dinner hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron.
"It's signed," Trump told reporters as he left the palace. "I signed it in Versailles. Just signed it."
What the Deal Says — and What It Starts
The memorandum of understanding, signed in both English and Farsi at Iran's insistence, immediately ends active hostilities between the US and Iran, ends the US naval blockade of Iranian ports, and restarts the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping.
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian signed the document separately and remotely, according to Iranian state media, posting an image of himself holding a signed copy and calling it "a historic document and a message from a strong Iran: peace will be achieved in the shadow of mutual respect."
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif confirmed the signing on X, saying the deal would "enter into force with immediate effect" and that Iran would "instantly reopen the Strait of Hormuz" as its first step.
NBC News confirmed the deal also starts a 60-day negotiating window to resolve longer-term questions around Iran's nuclear programme, including the fate of its enriched uranium stockpile.
📰 Related: Trump Says Iran Will Never Get Nuclear Weapon as Deal Enters New Stage
What Iran Got — and What It Didn't Give Up
The terms of the MOU represent a significant departure from what Trump publicly demanded when the war began on February 28 with joint US-Israeli strikes.
Trump had called for "UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER" in March.
The deal he signed does not include Iran surrendering its highly enriched uranium stockpile — dilution was "introduced as an option," Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said, not a requirement. Iran's ballistic missile programme is explicitly off the table. "Iran's missiles are only for firing, not for negotiation," Baghaei said.
Iran's theocratic government remains in place.
The Times of Israel reported that Iran's negotiator Ghalibaf told state television: "Everything we sought to achieve through military action, we obtained several times over through negotiation; it was not even comparable."
In exchange, the US is permitting outside investment into Iran immediately, and committed to eventually lifting all sanctions — terms that The Hill noted go beyond even the concessions in Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
📰 Related: UK Ready to Help Reopen Hormuz Shipping Route, Starmer Says
🤖 AI Generated ImageThe Versailles Parallel That Wasn't Lost on Anyone
Trump signed the memorandum in the same palace where Woodrow Wilson signed the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919, to end World War I.
That treaty — imposed rather than negotiated, and laden with terms historians say humiliated Germany — set the conditions for the rise of Adolf Hitler and World War II.
CNN noted the parallel directly, citing the Versailles setting as one Trump aides were aware of.
The MOU is not a final treaty. It is a 60-day framework. The permanent deal — including any resolution of the nuclear question — must be reached in the negotiating window that starts from the date of signing.
French President Macron, who hosted the dinner after the G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains concluded, called the agreement "excellent" and said the restoration of free Hormuz passage was its "keystone."
📰 Related: Hegseth Orders Six-Month Review of US Forces in Europe
Who Is Unhappy — and Why It Matters
Republican critics called the terms too generous to Iran.
Several Democratic senators, including Chuck Schumer, called the war itself one of the "biggest American disasters."
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly distanced himself from the deal, noting that Israel is not a signatory, and that commitments in the MOU to an "immediate and permanent end of fighting" between signatories and "their allies" could affect Israel's military leverage over Iran and its proxies, including Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Trump told reporters he wants Israel to "use good judgement" — but did not want Israel to halt its campaign in Lebanon entirely.
The 60-day negotiating window now determines whether this MOU becomes a peace settlement or another starting point for the next conflict.
Iran has said it will monitor US compliance "without any leniency" and will not fulfil its own obligations if Washington evades its commitments.
That condition cuts both ways — and the clock is already running.
Key Takeaways
- Trump signed the US-Iran memorandum of understanding at the Palace of Versailles on June 17, confirmed by two US officials and video published by French President Macron.
- The deal ends 110 days of US-Iran war that began February 28, lifts the US naval blockade of Iranian ports, and reopens the Strait of Hormuz with immediate effect.
- A 60-day window begins to negotiate a permanent nuclear deal; Iran's ballistic missile programme is explicitly excluded from negotiations.
- Iran's enriched uranium stockpile will not be surrendered; dilution was introduced as an option, not a requirement.
- Israel is not a signatory; Netanyahu has distanced himself from the deal, warning it may affect Israel's military leverage.
- Iran's negotiator said the agreement gave Iran "everything" it sought — a claim Trump's team disputed; Republican senators called the terms insufficiently tough on Iran.
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World News Correspondent
Rachel Hayes reports on international affairs, geopolitics, and breaking world news. Based in London, she covers stories shaping the UK and global political landscape.
