I cannot understand the people that are dancing around and celebrating the “memorandum of understanding” now that we have the full text of the agreement. After reviewing the document, I am having a difficult time processing how horrifyingly bad it is. JD Vance and the other U.S. negotiators essentially surrendered and gave the Iranians whatever they wanted. Now the Iranians are insisting that the “memorandum of understanding” requires all Israeli forces to be pulled out of Lebanon, and they think they are going to get that too. But of course Israel has absolutely no intention of leaving Lebanon, and that could cause all-out war to erupt in the Middle East in the not too distant future.
The status of the war in Lebanon is covered in the very first point of the “memorandum of understanding”…
The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran and their allies in the current war, by signing this MOU, declare the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon, and undertake from now on not to initiate any war or any military operation against each other, and to refrain from the threat or use of force against each other, and ensuring the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Lebanon. The final deal will confirm the permanent termination of the war on all fronts, including in Lebanon and other provisions of this paragraph.
Iranian officials believe that this makes it very clear that the IDF must leave Lebanon.
U.S. and Israeli officials are convinced that the document does not say that at all.
Of course Israel has not consented to anything and is not a party to this agreement.
If the U.S. and Iran intended for Israel to be bound by the “memorandum of understanding”, they should have allowed Israel to participate in the negotiations.
They did not do this, but now the Iranians expect Israel to be bound by it.
On Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi sensationally claimed that the “memorandum of understanding” requires all Israeli forces to be pulled out of Lebanon…
Iran’s top diplomat said Tuesday that the tentative deal to end the war with the United States would require Israel to withdraw from Lebanon — a condition Israel has already rejected and that could sink the agreement, leading to the resumption of all-out war.
You can watch Araghchi making this claim in this Fox News report…
According to Araghchi, if any Israeli forces remain in Lebanon that will be considered a violation of the “memorandum of understanding”.
And as you just saw, he is warning that any attack by Israeli forces on Hezbollah will also be considered a violation of the “memorandum of understanding”.
And yet the Iranians continue to encourage Hezbollah to attack Israeli troops…
The Iranians are encouraging Hezbollah to conduct these attacks because they know that they will provoke a response from the other side.
And that is precisely what occurred with this latest incident…
Israeli forces carried out airstrikes on several areas in south Lebanon Wednesday, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported, despite a memorandum of understanding on the Middle East war that Iran insists includes Lebanon.
NNA said Israeli warplanes launched raids targeting the Nabatieh al-Fawqa area and the eastern outskirts of neighboring town Kfar Tebnit. The Israelis also launched a drone strike on the town of Ansariyeh in the Zahrani area, NNA reported.
It is always the Israeli response that gets all the headlines.
And then the Iranians can claim that the “memorandum of understanding” is in danger because of Israel.
According to the Iranians, Israel “has violated the ceasefire in southern Lebanon 84 times over the past two days”…
“The Israeli army has violated the ceasefire in southern Lebanon 84 times over the past two days, continues to commit crimes and kill the oppressed Lebanese people after the U.S. president declared the end of the war. We warn that if the Israeli army does not stop its evil in southern Lebanon, it should expect a harsh response from our forces,” the Iranian statement said.
Do you notice that the Iranians never say anything about Hezbollah violating the ceasefire?
The Iranians know that the Trump administration desperately wants the “memorandum of understanding” to succeed, and they are trying to drive a wedge between the U.S. and Israel.
And to a certain degree, it is working…
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could use a “softer touch” in Lebanon in comments made at the close of a G7 summit in France.
Netanyahu and Trump have repeatedly clashed over Israel’s refusal to constrain its pursuit of Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, where a cessation of hostilities is a key Iranian demand.
“Netanyahu happens to be a good man, gets a little excited sometimes,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday.
“We have a little dispute over Lebanon. I say you can do a little softer touch, Bibi. You don’t have to knock down a building every time somebody walks into it that’s from Hezbollah.”
If someone was lobbing rockets at Washington D.C. or New York City, how would we feel if we were told that we needed a “softer touch” with those that were launching the rockets?
Hezbollah has launched thousands of rockets at Israel this year alone.
But Israel is supposed to play nice?
Of course Israel is not going to play nice, and the Iranians are threatening to attack Israel if military action against Hezbollah does not cease…
Iran’s Top Joint Military Command, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, says that Israel should expect a hard response from the Iranian armed forces if it does not stop its attacks on southern Lebanon, days after Tehran and Washington announced a deal to end the regional war.
Tehran has insisted that the memorandum of understanding requires Israel to halt its offensive against Hezbollah — a claim that both Jerusalem and Washington have disputed.
If Iran launches ballistic missiles at Israel, the Israelis will respond by hitting Iran really hard.
And if the chain of retaliation does not get interrupted, we could have all-out war on our hands and nobody would be talking about peace at that stage.
It is clear that Trump really wants peace.
He wants peace so badly that he was willing to hand control of the Strait of Hormuz to the Iranians, and he was willing to sign the “memorandum of understanding” without any meaningful nuclear concessions from Iran at all…
And it pushes the entire subject of Iran’s rogue nuclear program into a 60-day negotiation period, during which the regime can be relied upon to be as uncompromising and dismissive as its negotiators were when facing Witkoff and Kushner in January.
Incredibly, the draft text of the MOU already rewards the regime for its intransigence: It states that Iran’s “nuclear needs” will be addressed in those 60 days; the US negotiators apparently could not even persuade the regime to include the words “peaceful” or “civilian,” to at least keep up the pretense that it has legitimate nuclear requirements.
During the 60 days, the text continues ridiculously, “Iran will maintain the status quo on its nuclear program.” What status quo would that be? The “status quo” under which Iran has run rings around the UN’s nuclear inspectors, to the point where, as its negotiators boasted to Witkoff, it amassed enough near-weapons-grade uranium for 11 nuclear bombs, an underground stockpile that survived the US Army’s B-2 bunker busters last June?
We are in a far worse position than we were before the war, and we now have a lot less leverage with Iran than we did before the war.
What a disaster.
Meanwhile, the Iranians are feeling absolutely euphoric…
“Iran is leaving this war with a sense of euphoria. They are managing the Strait of Hormuz, nobody was able to force them to back down militarily,” said Meir Javedanfar, an Iran expert at Israel’s Reichman University. He predicted Iran will now see the Persian Gulf’s oil-rich monarchies as its own sphere of influence.
Meanwhile, the war—which consumed a large part of U.S. precision munitions and inflicted damage on key U.S. military facilities in the region—has also exposed the limits of American military power. This, in turn, has undermined Washington’s main argument in its attempts to wring future nuclear concessions from Tehran, which retains a stockpile of highly enriched uranium and has yet to agree to renewed international inspections.
“When it comes to nuclear negotiations, we are back at the prewar stage, but with the U.S. leverage removed,” said Dania Thafer, director of the Gulf International Forum think tank. “Pandora’s box has already been opened, everything has been tested, and Iran feels it doesn’t have much more to lose or to fear. The worst has already happened, from the Iranian perspective, and they have survived it.”
I cannot think of another diplomatic disaster in U.S. history that exceeds this.
But this isn’t the end of the story.
There isn’t going to be lasting peace in the Middle East, and more war is coming.
Those that are dancing and celebrating because a “memorandum of understanding” has been signed are going to be deeply disappointed.
Global events are inevitably taking us in a particular direction, and it won’t be the direction that most people are anticipating.
Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.
About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com. He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing. You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter. Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites. These are such troubled times, and people need hope. John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.
