At the Palace of Versailles on June 17, as French President Emmanuel Macron looked on, President Donald Trump signed his name to a 14-point memorandum of understanding with the Islamic Republic of Iran—a regime whose state-controlled media, within hours, was broadcasting banners declaring that “the US was forced to sign an agreement to end the war.” In Tehran, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian held up his signed copy for cameras, completing what Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei called proof that his country had “defeated two nuclear powers… We truly are a superpower.”
The proof that Iran’s celebration is not merely rhetorical lies on the ground: Hezbollah, Iran’s most powerful proxy, is firing missiles and drones daily into Israel even as a supposed ceasefire is in effect, and Hamas’s latest response to mediators in Cairo amounts to an effective rejection of key components of Trump’s Gaza peace plan, including the demand for disarmament.
The MOU, mediated by Pakistan and Qatar and signed two days earlier than originally planned, grants Iran large-scale economic relief and commits Tehran only in principle to a subsequent dilution of its enriched uranium—while pushing off discussion of Iran’s nuclear program and other core issues to a 60-day negotiation period. Despite Trump’s combative pre-war rhetoric, Iran’s theocratic government remains in place, its stockpile of highly enriched uranium has not been surrendered, its ballistic missile capabilities have not been destroyed, and it has not ended its support for terror proxies like Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi wasted no time in framing the outcome. He stated flatly that Iran “defeated the US in the military battlefield” and warned that “Iran’s armed forces will always have their hand on the trigger to confront the conspiracies of the enemies.” He added that the MOU itself was written not in a spirit of partnership but of calculated suspicion: “This memorandum does not mean trusting the enemy; it has been written with active distrust. We will monitor the implementation of U.S. commitments.”
Iran’s military operational headquarters, Khatam al-Anbiya, went further in its Sunday night statement, declaring that “the humiliated enemies have no option but to accept defeat and surrender before a people inspired by God and the soldiers of the Almighty.” The statement continued: “By imposing their divine and iron will upon their adversaries, they proved that there is no alternative for the enemy other than acknowledging defeat.”
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi matched the triumphalist tone from the diplomatic lane. Iran’s state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported that Araghchi declared the nation’s military performance had yielded not only tactical but strategic gains: “The Iranian nation achieved not only tactical victories during the 12-day imposed war in June last year and the recent war, but also important strategic accomplishments whose impact can be observed in both regional and global equations.” Araghchi added that “the true image of Iran’s power on the global stage stems not only from its military capabilities but also from national cohesion, resilience, and the active involvement of its people.”
On the Strait of Hormuz, Baghaei outlined Tehran’s intentions with precision: “Iran will charge fees for services in the Strait of Hormuz. The mechanisms for managing the Strait of Hormuz have largely been agreed upon with Oman,” preserving, he said, “the sovereignty and dominion of the Islamic Republic of Iran” over the waterway. Trump had announced the strait would open toll-free to all shipping and that the US naval blockade on Iran’s ports would be lifted immediately. Iran’s version of what was agreed and Washington’s version were already diverging before the ink had dried.
Baghaei delivered his most sweeping verdict directly to Iranian state television: “Our enemies have inflicted harm on us. But a wounded lion remains a lion. The war they imposed not only did not bring us to our knees, but made us stronger.”
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