Release the Text of the Iran Deal

National Review Online

Monday, June 15, 2026

 

On his 80th birthday on Sunday, President Trump announced that a long-discussed, often-delayed peace deal has been finalized with Iran. The problem is, we don’t have the actual text of the deal, which has already been signed electronically.

 

Iran, both publicly and through its various state-controlled media outlets, has boasted of achieving a major victory. Under the Iranian description, the Islamic regime has committed to very little beyond agreeing to negotiations on the nuclear issue over the next 60 days, while unlocking $12 billion in immediate sanctions relief, and a promise that the U.S. will present it with a $300 billion plan for reconstruction after the war. While Trump claimed that the Strait of Hormuz will be opened on Friday “for the purposes of mine removal,” Iranian outlets have reported that it will take 30 days to reopen and will remain under control of Iran and Oman, with plans to charge tolls in the future.

 

In the run-up to the deal, Vice President JD Vance decried “fake information” about the looming deal, claiming that the Iranians would not receive cash and that economic benefits would flow only if they comply with it. He reiterated this on Fox News after the announcement that a deal was completed. In the same interview, Vance claimed, “We have solved a problem that has plagued this country since before I was even born, which is a terrorist-supporting Iran pursuing a nuclear weapon.” And yet, other reporting suggests that the memorandum of understanding does not address the nuclear program, much less Iran’s support of terrorism.

 

In an interview with the New York Times, Trump said the deal ensured that the Strait of Hormuz will be “permanently toll-free.”

 

There is a huge difference between a deal that provides billions of dollars in immediate financial relief to help Iran rebuild and allows Iran to maintain control over the Strait of Hormuz, and a deal that provides for the important body to be permanently free, with no sanctions relief until Iran meets its commitments.

 

It was discouraging to see that Trump told the New York Times that on the nuclear front, he would support allowing Iran to enrich uranium for “non-military purposes.” This is a far cry from his position going into the war of zero enrichment and his boasts that all enriched uranium would leave Iran. In reality, low-level enriched uranium could be further enriched to military grade. This also leaves unanswered the question of Iran’s ballistic missile program and its threats to regional stability through its funding of terrorist proxies. All told, there is the possibility that Trump would return the U.S. to Obama’s failed Iran deal that Trump rightfully tore up in his first term, which would have all the makings of a humiliation after all of the president’s tough talk.

 

Of course, it’s possible that the MOU is much less than is being described by either party — effectively, an extension of the cease-fire that suspends the embargo in exchange for an opening of the Strait of Hormuz, while punting on the thornier issues to the 60-day negotiation period.

 

The only way to clarify which it is, however, is to just release the text that was agreed to. Trump launched this war in the wee hours of the morning without getting approval from Congress or making a case to the American people. Now, he (or Vance) is trying to end it by signing on to an executive agreement that commits the U.S. to certain provisions without revealing what’s in it.

 

If what is being reported about the agreement is fake news, then the administration should release the full MOU and let the American people debate what is in it.