New Details Show the Trump-Iran Deal is “Extraordinarily Generous” to Iran

A US official used the term “Extraordinarily Generous”. Full text of MOU below.

Deal Allows Tehran to Immediately Sell Oil

The Wall Street Journal reports The Trump-Iran Deal Allows Tehran to Immediately Sell Oil

The U.S. will allow Iran to immediately begin selling oil and fuel under the deal to end the war, offering Tehran an early financial incentive to wind down the conflict, people familiar with the agreement said.

The provision for waivers of sanctions on oil sales takes effect immediately upon signing the agreement this week and also covers necessary services including banking, transportation and insurance needed to facilitate the sales, the people said.

United Against Nuclear Iran, a nonprofit, said an Iranian supertanker carrying crude oil, Diona, had left Chabahar port, crossed the U.S. blockade and was sailing out of the Gulf of Oman on Tuesday with its location tracker active. It was the first such transit since the start of the U.S. blockade in April. Shortly afterward, a second supertanker, Hero II, also crossed the blockade, according to the nonprofit and ship-tracking data from MarineTraffic.

Allowing Iran to export its oil concedes a key point of U.S. leverage, but one the White House felt it probably had to give up to open the Strait of Hormuz, said Farzin Nadimi, an Iran-focused senior fellow with the Washington Institute, a U.S.-based think tank. 

“The White House thinks that these kinds of sweeteners are required to make Iran make concessions, and otherwise it would be very difficult to make Iran continue negotiations,” Nadimi said. 

Among its provisions is a regional reconstruction and development fund for Iran to repair damage done by the war. In a briefing Monday, senior Trump administration officials said the U.S. and Iran have discussed a fund of $300 billion for that purpose. They also said they have discussed sanctions relief and restoring Tehran’s access to some of its estimated $100 billion in frozen funds.

“We’re going to be willing to be extraordinarily generous in opening up their economy and opening up the sanctions relief,” one of the officials said. “So I would say everything is on the table and at the same time nothing is on the table if it doesn’t come along with real performance.”

The question of financial benefits for Iran is among the most sensitive for Trump’s effort to conclude the war. Trump has excoriated former President Barack Obama for flying cash into Iran after a 2015 nuclear deal went into effect the following January. Trump withdrew from that deal in his first term.

Under the memorandum of understanding, the U.S. is also willing to give Iran access to some of its frozen funds for payments determined by Iran’s central bank, some of the people said.

Deal Check List

• Iran can immediately sell oil
• At least two Iranian ships already traversed the strait with location signals on
• Banking restrictions are off immediately
• $300 billion in restoration funds under discussion
• Release of frozen funds under discussion

What Does the US Get?

• 60 day discussion about nuclear stockpiles
• Statement already made long ago that Iran would not build weapons

Things Unclear

• Whether Iran can charge tolls (renamed to maintenance and safety fees)
• Iran wants $12 billion up front and $24 billion frozen assets released during the 60-day negotiation. Iran has an estimated $100 billion in assets rendered inaccessible by U.S. sanctions, mainly revenue from past oil sales and reserves. 

Alleged MOU Details

• Iran and the US, together with their allies in the current war, declare upon the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding an immediate and permanent end to the war on all fronts, including Lebanon, and undertake that from now on they will not launch any hostile action against each other, and will refrain from the threat or use of force against each other
• Iran and the US undertake to respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and to refrain from interfering in each other’s internal affairs
• Iran and the US undertake to negotiate and reach a final agreement within a maximum period of 60 days, extendable by mutual consent
• Immediately upon the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding, the United States will lift the naval blockade and prevent any interference or obstruction against Iran, and restore traffic within a maximum of 30 days to its full capacity; the traffic of ships shall be proportional to the pre-war volume of traffic on Iran’s part
• The US also undertakes to withdraw its forces from the surrounding areas within 30 days after the final agreement Upon signing this Memorandum of Understanding, Iran will immediately take steps to ensure that the movement of merchant ships from the Arabian Gulf to the Sea of Oman and vice versa is resumed within 30 days to the pre-war volume, taking into account the need for the removal of technical obstacles and the neutralization of mines by Iran
• The US undertakes, together with its regional partners, to create a comprehensive plan agreed upon by both parties for the rehabilitation and economic development of Iran, while ensuring financing of at least $300 billion
• The implementation mechanism of this plan, as part of the final agreement, will be formulated within 60 days
• The United States commits to ending, on a schedule to be agreed upon as part of the final agreement, all types of sanctions currently facing Iran, including resolutions of the United Nations Security Council and the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and all unilateral US sanctions, both primary and secondary Iran reiterates that it will never produce nuclear weapons
• Iran and the US have agreed that the fate of enriched material and the fate of all other mutually agreed nuclear-related issues, including Iran’s nuclear needs, will be adequately addressed in a final agreement
• Iran and the US agree that, pending a final agreement, they will maintain the status quo: Iran will maintain the status quo on its nuclear program, and the US will not impose new sanctions on Iran or strengthen its forces in the region
• The US undertakes that immediately after the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding, and until the date of the lifting of sanctions, the US Treasury Department will issue waivers for exports of Iranian crude oil, petrochemical products and their derivatives, and all related services, including banking, insurance, transportation, and the like
• The US undertakes that, in light of the progress of negotiations towards a final agreement, frozen or restricted funds and assets of Iran will be released and made fully available
• These funds, whether held in the master account or transferred, will be used for any final beneficiary payment determined by the Central Bank of Iran and will be fully available for use. The US undertakes to issue all necessary permits and licenses on this basis Iran and the US agree that an implementation mechanism will be established to oversee the successful implementation of and future commitment to the Final Agreement
• Following the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding, and upon receipt of assurances regarding the commencement of implementation of Articles 4, 5, 10, and 11 of this Memorandum of Understanding, and the continued implementation of these steps, Iran and the US will enter into negotiations for a Final Agreement solely with respect to the remaining Articles
• The final agreement will be approved through a binding resolution of the UN Security Council

Another Take on the Details

Key Clauses of the MOU Between the US and Iran

• Iran agrees not to develop or acquire nuclear weapons
• US and Iran agree to halt hostilities across the region, including in Lebanon
• Iran to guarantee free and safe commercial shipping through the strait of hormuz for 60 days
• US to release frozen Iranian assets once the agreement takes effect
• US to grant temporary sanctions waivers allowing Iran to export oil during negotiations
• Iran to maintain its current nuclear program while talks continue
• both sides to address Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile in future negotiations
• US to avoid new sanctions and major military buildups in the region during talks
• 60 days of negotiations planned to reach a final agreement
• Oman and gulf states to participate in talks on maritime security and shipping arrangements
• final deal could see the US withdraw its forces within 30 days
• final deal could result in the lifting of all US sanctions on Iran
• proposed final agreement includes a $300 billion reconstruction fund for Iran
• potential deal would represent one of the most significant US–Iran diplomatic breakthroughs in decades

Trump Is Losing the Hawks Who Once Defended the Iran War

The Wall Street Journal reports Trump Is Losing the Hawks Who Once Defended the Iran War

Many of the hawkish conservatives who rushed to President Trump’s defense at the beginning of the war with Iran now fear he is at risk of losing at the negotiating table, emboldening Tehran and setting back joint U.S.-Israeli interests in the process.

Early details, such as reports that a preliminary peace deal eventually could unlock billions of dollars in frozen Iranian funds, have turned once loyal allies into critics.

Two influential voices who have privately advised Trump throughout the war—retired Army Gen. Jack Keane, a Fox News contributor, and Marc Thiessen, a onetime chief speechwriter for former President George W. Bush—have raised pointed concerns about the deal.

“I can’t square some of the things that are coming out of the administration from reliable sources. That’s what I find so disturbing,” Keane told Fox News on Monday night. Thiessen called early reports about the agreement “utterly disastrous.” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.), another hawkish adviser to Trump, has said he is eager to see the text of the deal.

Senior Trump administration officials said the U.S. and Iran have discussed sanctions relief, restoring Tehran’s access to some of its estimated $100 billion in frozen funds and a $300 billion fund to facilitate reconstruction and repair of war damage. Officials have said Iran won’t receive taxpayer money.

Trump’s allies on Capitol Hill have stopped short of openly criticizing the deal, but have said they need more information. Under federal law, Congress has the power to review any Iran nuclear deal and potentially vote on it. 

“I want to see it myself,” Graham said of the preliminary agreement. “The way Iran describes it is awful.

When Mark Levin, a Trump ally, called on the administration to release the text of the deal, former Trump campaign aide Alex Bruesewitz chastised the Fox News host on social media, accusing him of panicking unnecessarily. Levin, whom Trump previously praised for his analysis of the Iran war, replied that Bruesewitz was “a fool.”

“If the president signed a bad deal, many of us who cheered and stood by him and thought that his action in Iran was heroic, will be extraordinarily disappointed,” Ben Shapiro, the popular conservative commentator, said in an interview. “It is not enough to win the first half of the basketball game.” he said, “You have to close it out.”

Trump Praises Current Iranian Leadership

Sarcasm of the Day

Don’t Worry No Tolls

Bomb First

An Amazing Prophesy

No Way to Spin this as a Win

The strait was open and free to travel before the war. It will be open but may not be free travel after now,

Iran had already committed that it would not build a bomb. Trump will have achieved nothing, even if the 60 day talks go well.