By The Daily Caller (Opinion) | Created at 2026-06-16 21:17:54 | Updated at 2026-06-17 01:35:22
5 hours ago
President Donald Trump announced Sunday that the U.S. and Iran agreed to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to bring the months-long war to an end. The formal signing is planned to take place at a meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, on Friday.
The MOU is not a final, negotiated “peace deal.” But it is the first important hurdle in a longer process that could potentially end the costly war that began Feb. 28. Trump said he might send the MOU to Congress for review and that he’d read it aloud at a press conference once it is released to the public.
The details surrounding the MOU are scant. But the basic gist is that, barring a total breakdown, the MOU ends hostilities on all fronts (including Lebanon) and begins a 60-day period in which both parties can negotiate thornier issues: Iran’s nuclear program and uranium enrichment capabilities, the long-term arrangement for the Strait of Hormuz and whether Iran will keep its fee system permanently in place, and sanctions relief. An Iranian news outlet published a 14-point proposal purported to be the actual MOU, “electronically signed” by Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance. However, it’s unclear whether this information is credible. (RELATED: ‘Let The Oil Flow!’: Trump Announces Diplomatic Breakthrough With Iran)
Iranian Mehr News Agency has published the supposed 14 clauses of the MOU
$12 billion of Iran’s frozen funds to be released before negotiations begin, with another $12 billion during the 60-day final negotiation window.
Oil and petrochemical sanctions suspended.
Full naval…
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) June 14, 2026
What’s more clear, however, are the factions who want to derail the peace process, continue the war, or else want the opposing side to get nothing out of any future deal and thus make peace all but impossible: the Israelis, the Iran Hawks and Israel Firsters, and hardliners in the Iranian regime.
The Israelis
The Israelis have made it known since Sunday that they have no intention of ending their occupation of Lebanon, even though it would appear that this is a crucial part of the MOU. Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said in a statement that “under the agreements reached, the war and military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon, are ended immediately and permanently.” Trump’s stinging and very public criticism of Israel and the IDF at the G7 summit on Tuesday also suggests that Lebanon is key to any future deal. (RELATED: ‘I’m Not Happy’: Trump Rebukes Israel, Directly Calls Out IDF)
Yet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is digging in, insisting Israeli troops will continue to occupy Lebanon “for as long as necessary.”
“We established deep security zones around the state of Israel. We did this in Gaza, in Lebanon and in Syria,” he said at a press conference Monday. “And I want to make it clear: we will remain in these security zones … to protect our country.”
This picture taken from a position in Upper Galilee in northern Israel, near the border with Lebanon, shows smoke rising as the Israeli army demolishes buildings and homes in southern Lebanon on April 27, 2026. Tehran-backed Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war on March 2 by firing rockets at Israel to avenge the death of Iran’s supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes. Since the truce went into force on April 17, Israeli strikes have killed at least 36 people, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese health ministry figures. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP via Getty Images)
Other members of his right-wing coalition have indicated Israel will spoil the progress in the coming days or weeks. Defense Minister Israel Katz said Monday that the Israel Defense Forces will remain in Southern Lebanon and promised that Israel will “resist any pressure” to end the war. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the MOU was “bad for Israel and for the entire free world. Period.” National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir also attacked the deal and said: “Trump’s agreement does not bind us.”
“Israel is not subordinate to the United States. We are an independent and sovereign country,” Gvir said. “We are not partners to this agreement, which does not safeguard our security. We must not withdraw from any territory [in Lebanon] that our fighters have captured.”
The Iran Hawks and Israel Firsters
Prominent neocons, Iran Hawks and pro-Israel voices on the right have come out of the woodwork in recent days, knives unsheathed, in a desperate attempt to pressure the Trump administration out of the peace process and return to full-scale war.
Marc Thiessen, a Fox News contributor and Washington Post columnist who has praised Trump at every turn since Feb. 28, referred to a leaked 14-point proposal as a “complete disaster” if true. Rather than directly criticizing the president, he framed the MOU as the “Vance peace deal,” even though Trump signed off on it. Meanwhile, Fox News host Mark Levin was furious that Israel got left out of the negotiating process.
Nothing we do in terms of a deal will change the behavior of this enemy. If you don’t believe that you do not know what we are dealing with. If you do believe that you know that for them deals are made to be broken.
Put aside all the idiocy and static about who loves whom and…
— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) June 15, 2026
A slew of others, including Foundation for Defense of Democracies CEO Mark Dubowitz, several Fox News contributors, Ben Shapiro and radio host Erick Erickson, have slammed the MOU and likened it to former President Barack Obama’s 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
This faction’s main goal is to pressure the administration as much as possible so that Trump fully backs out of the MOU, asks Iran to make concessions that would be a virtual nonstarter in future negotiations, or restarts the war.
The Iranian Hardliners
Al Jazeera reported Tuesday that hardliners in the Iranian regime have “shown their anger at the prospect of signing a deal with US President Donald Trump.” This faction believes Trump is the key culprit behind the assassination of former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and General Qassem Soleimani, according to the outlet.
The hardliners reportedly do not want the regime to make any major concessions to the U.S., want full and permanent control over the Strait of Hormuz, and want U.S. troops to leave the region entirely. Some of these hardliners are associated with the political group Paydari Front, led by Saeed Jalili. Jalili was a longtime representative of Khamenei on Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Al Jazeera reported. He is believed to be the main opponent to a deal.
On the other hand, moderates and centrists, who include Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, have pushed for a negotiated settlement that still secures Iran’s interests, Al Jazeera reported. Surviving members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps are also said to be playing a role behind the scenes in shaping negotiations, according to Al Jazeera.
Trita Parsi, an Iran expert and the vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, believes there is an Iranian hardliner faction currently attempting to poison the well before future negotiations even take place. In an interview Monday, Parsi told Tucker Carlson some of the proposals and recent leaks coming from Iranian state media are, in fact, poison pills.
“There have been so many different versions that have been floating around. Some of them, frankly, do seem to be sabotage efforts,” he explained. “Some of the hardline media in Iran that has been sending out versions that I think deliberately were trying to raise people’s expectations in order to make the final deal look bad. They’re doing it to try to sabotage.”
Trita Parsi has a rational, pro-American view of the Iran war, so naturally Bari Weiss tried to get him deported.
0:00 The Key Points of Trump’s Iran Peace Deal
5:36 Israel’s Move to Sabotage the Peace Deal
11:00 Why Both the US and Iran Need Peace
24:19 How Netanyahu Will Try… pic.twitter.com/NtK6IUg4C1
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) June 15, 2026
Parsi also noted that the Paydari Front is “dead set” on opposing a deal and that the group organized protests outside the Iranian Foreign Ministry in Tehran, calling for the death of Abbas Araghchi and others who were negotiating with the U.S.
