Last night, when in Versailles on invitation by French President Emmanuel Macron, President Donald Trump had signed a copy of the latest version of the Memorandum of Understanding ending the war with Iran. “This was not easy!” he said. The document was also signed by the Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian as pictures published by state media showed.
Would it not have been more appropriate if Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei (whose father, wife and teenage son, among other family members) had been killed in the decapitation strike led by Trump and Netanyahu on February 28, had signed the agreement?
CNN reminds us that the place of the signature is the same as the ill-fated treaty ending WWI and setting in motion the rise of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany leading to WWII.
A Memorandum of Understanding is one of the weakest agreements one can think of. Until now, Trump has avoided to involve Congress, let alone the European allies or the United Nations Security Council. Although the former applauded the deal.
According to point 7 of the MoU, the lifting of all sanctions against Iran could be possible in the near future — whether based on UN Security Council or IAEA Board of Governors resolutions, or all unilateral US sanctions. Trump may believe that sanctions are the only way to prevent Iran of developing, “buying” or manufacturing nuclear weapons. Far from that.
Maybe he has not taken into account that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, presently more or less in power in Iran, was designated by the U.S. (via Trump himself) a Foreign Terrorist Organization, citing its extensive history of terrorist plots, hostage-taking, funding foreign terror networks, and killing U.S. citizen. The European Union formally added the IRGC to its terrorist list in February 2026. Canada, the UK, GulfStates Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, all consider th IRGC as a terrorist organization.
I suppose, the MoU, a non-binding agreement, is just for extending the cease fire and, well, opening the Strait of Hormuz. The next 60 days will show how close the two adversaries will come in their peace negotiations.
While Trump can act independently for just a short period of time, the permanent lifting of sanctions inevitably requires Congress. The same holds for any attempt of removing the IRGC from the list of FTO.
Maybe Trump was not aware or just ignored doomsday when he has to involve Congress in any further acts in the near future. His subdued appearance at the G7 in Evian, France, earlier this week may reflect his current mood, being trapped by both master negotiators in Iran and a relentless Constitution at home.
The same for UN Security Council resolutions, EU rulings. No way out. His closest advisors, be it J. D. Vance, Marco Rubio, Lindsay Graham, Jared Kushner — they all keep quiet, having noticed that Trump may do just the opposite of what they tell him.
Trump, the Conquerer of the Worlds, has become home alone.
18 June 2026 @ 10:14 UTC+2.
Last modified June 18, 2026.