Iran's President Defends Trump Deal Despite Expired Deadline
Iran's President Defends Trump Deal Despite Expired Deadline
The News
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday defended the expired memorandum of understanding with the United States as the best available route to ending the war, six months into a conflict he described as "neither war nor peace."
The deal, signed by President Donald Trump in June, set a 60-day timeline to end the US-Israeli-led conflict and to force Iran to abandon its nuclear ambitions. That deadline passed last week with no compromise from either side.
Pezeshkian said Iran's Supreme National Security Council agreed with his assessment on the basis of "dignity, wisdom and national interest," according to remarks published by state news agency IRNA.
Timeline
Trump signs the memorandum of understanding with Tehran, laying out a 60-day path to ending the fighting and to Iran giving up its nuclear program. Pakistan was instrumental in getting the document signed.
Iran closes the Strait of Hormuz in response to US-Israeli attacks, choking global shipping. Per the Wire's cluster reporting, oil spiked to $120 a barrel and Washington answered with a naval blockade.
Pakistan signs its own regional security cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia and Turkey, read by observers as a counter to Iranian influence.
The 60-day deadline lapses with no deal.
Pezeshkian publicly defends the MoU; Iran's Foreign Ministry announces Pakistan's top military leader will arrive Monday.
Reactions
"There is not a single provision in this agreement that amounts to capitulation," Pezeshkian said. "The supreme leader sets the policies, and we will follow that path."
He tied the case for a deal directly to Iran's battered economy, saying the country has to end the stalemate to bring investment back. "Capital and money are extremely sensitive to risk," he said. "We have to remove this risk from the country."
Hardliners are not on the same page. Mohsen Rezaei, the new hardline head of the Supreme National Security Council, warned neighboring countries against helping the US effort: "If [Trump] wants to do something, we will retaliate in a seismic manner." Rezaei said Iran would target Persian Gulf oil-shipping routes that bypass the Strait of Hormuz if neighbors join the American economic campaign.
Tehran framed the incoming Pakistani visit as part of "Pakistan's ongoing efforts to help consolidate peace and security in the region."
What's Next
Pakistan's army chief, Asim Munir, travels to Tehran on Monday to push de-escalation, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said.
The core questions are unresolved: whether the lapsed MoU can still serve as the basis for talks, and whether the Strait of Hormuz reopens. Coverage in the cluster splits on whether Pezeshkian's remarks signal a real diplomatic opening or a tactical posture while hardliners keep their leverage.
More
The stakes for Americans run through the oil market. Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz has held the global economy in a chokehold for six months, and Rezaei's threat is aimed squarely at the alternative routes that keep Gulf crude moving. A deal that reopens the strait is the fastest path back to normal prices; a wider fight over shipping lanes is the fastest path away from it.
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