Iran war day 109: Tehran, Washington, sign MoU electronically

US President Donald Trump has said a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Iran has been “all signed” electronically, and the Strait of Hormuz will be “completely open” by Friday.

US officials told the Reuters and AFP news agencies that the agreement was signed by Trump, US Vice President JD Vance and main Iranian negotiator and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

Tuesday marks 109 days since the war began, with the US and Israel’s attacks on Iran. Here is what’s happening:

What we know about the US-Iran MoU

The details of the MoU between the US and Iran have not yet been made fully public, but officials on both sides have offered some indications of what may be included.

• Iran’s National Security Council said on Monday that the deal ends fighting on all fronts, including in Lebanon, and lifts the US naval blockade on Iranian ports.
• Both sides say negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme as well as relief from sanctions will take place in follow-up talks during the 60-day period after the MoU is officially signed in Switzerland on Friday.
• Trump said the Strait of Hormuz will be “open to all” on Friday, while Vance said there would be no tolls on traffic in the waterway during the 60-day period.
• A senior Iranian official told Reuters the US had agreed to release $25bn of Iran’s frozen assets and waive sanctions on oil for a specified period of time.
• But Vance denied that, telling US media that “there hasn’t been a single dollar of sanctions relief or unfrozen assets” from Washington or its allies.
• Vance also said the MoU is a “general document” which is about “a page and a half”. Details of the text could be released soon, he added.

In Iran

• Before electronically signing the MoU with the US, Iran’s Ghalibaf wrote on X that Tehran has taken a “great step toward final victory” after the country’s “historic resistance” against Israel and the US.
• Since announcing the peace deal, the US has removed its blockade of Iranian ports and, according to Iranian media, at least three Iranian oil tankers and other ships carrying goods for Iran have crossed the Strait of Hormuz.
• Saman Rezaei, the head of Iran’s merchant marine union, has told Al Jazeera that he believes the transit system in the Strait of Hormuz will “never return to its pre-war condition”. The recovery [of the strait], he argued, rests on a “convergence of judgements” based on “sustainable peace, a reduction in the apparent threat and several cycles of incident-free transit”.
• Rezaei also confirmed that some 22,000 seafarers have been stranded in the Gulf for nearly four months and have “suffered significant injuries”. He emphasised that the immediate priority is the safe departure of all seafarers with international cooperation, regardless of the political outcome.