While Trump has been vacillating over whether there is an imminent peace deal or whether he will resume bombing, there clearly have been ongoing negotiations. What has been lacking in US media are details about what the deal may contain, other than vague statements that Trump has denounced as false because it seems like he has gained little. Trump has made at least 40 claims that a deal is imminent and he is such a liar that it is hard to take seriously anything he says. But Drop Site News has been monitoring Iranian media and they have published what the Iranians see as the framework of the proposed deal.

A number of terms in the memorandum of understanding (MOU) have been reported on by Iranian state media, although the details have yet to be finalized and have not been officially confirmed by Tehran or Washington. They include:

• A permanent and immediate cessation of war on all fronts, including Lebanon.
• Lifting of the U.S. naval blockade within 30 days.
• Commitments from the U.S. not to expand its military presence in the region.
• Sixty days of negotiations to reach a final agreement “based on nuclear issues and the complete lifting of” sanctions.
• Reopening the strait of Hormuz within 30 days “with Iranian arrangements.”
• Final negotiations will not begin before the release of half of Iran’s frozen funds, the suspension of oil sanctions and the lifting of the naval blockade. “Discussions about Iran’s missile program and support for resistance groups have been definitively removed from the agenda,” IRNA reported.
• The 60-day period will address three issues left unresolved in the current MOU: the continuation of Iran’s peaceful nuclear program, the lifting of sanctions, and a mechanism for compensating Iran for its losses.
• “If Tehran decides to sign the memorandum, some of its frozen funds will be released immediately, and the rest gradually,” IRNA reported.
• The question of U.S. sanctions will reportedly be adjudicated during the 60-day negotiating period.
• The memorandum contains no Iranian commitments on the nuclear issue and no U.S. commitment to lift sanctions.

Iran clarifies Hormuz control in light of the deal: Iran’s official state news agency released a statement stressing that “contrary to what is being circulated by Western media, Iran will not commit to relinquishing control of the Strait of Hormuz.”

As far as I can see, Trump has gained almost nothing from his reckless war and indeed has given up a lot of what had been painstakingly negotiated and laid out in the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action ) negotiated between Iran and China, France, Russia, the U.K., U.S., and Germany in 2015 during the Obama administration.

Under the JCPOA, Iran agreed to constrain its nuclear program by limiting fuel cycle activities that could lead to the production of weapons-grade uranium or plutonium. The JCPOA restricted the number and type of centrifuges in operation, the level of uranium enrichment, and the size of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile. Key facilities at Fordow, Natanz and Arak were repurposed for civilian uses such as medical and industrial research. Iran agreed to accept more intrusive IAEA monitoring measures of its fuel-cycle related activities. In exchange for complying with these restrictions, Iran received relief from nuclear-related sanctions imposed by the United Nations, the EU, and the United States, but many U.S. sanctions unrelated to the nuclear issue—targeting Iran’s missile program, support for militant groups, and human rights record—remained in place, limiting the economic effect of sanctions relief. The agreement also set a timetable to lift the UN arms embargo, contingent on Iran’s continued compliance with civilian nuclear commitments.

Trump summarily repudiated that agreement in 2018, for no obvious reason other than because Obama had been president then.

The agreement took effect on 20 January 2016. It was criticized and opposed by Israel, Saudi Arabia, Iranian principlists, and the Republican Party in the United States.

The United States withdrew from the pact in 2018, imposing sanctions under its maximum pressure campaign. In a symbolic response, members of Iran’s Islamic Consultative Assembly burned the text of JCPOA in the Assembly. The sanctions applied to all countries and companies doing business with Iran and cut it off from the international financial system, rendering the nuclear deal’s economic provisions null. On 18 October 2025, in the aftermath of the Twelve-Day War, Iran officially announced the termination of the agreement after 10 years.

If what Iranian media is reporting is anywhere close to what the final deal is, one can see why Trump is not revealing its own version at the moment. He has to find a way to spin it as being better that the JCPOA and that is going to take some doing.