Several versions of the Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. and Iran are circling through the media. They ain’t the final ones.
Yesterday I quoted from a draft version published by the Iranian Mehr News Agency. It was known that this version was not the final one.
Since then Bloomberg, via Time, has published another version. CNN has a slightly different one.
None of these are the finally version the parties had agreed upon.
Late Sunday the final version had been expanded from the draft as Trump had to make additional concessions. These had become necessary to prevent Iran from massively retaliating against Israel for its early Sunday attack on Beirut.
The new concessions included, Iranian sources said, a full retreat of Israel from sovereign Lebanon stipulated in paragraph 1 of the MoU. They also conceded to Iran to control the Strait of Hormuz. The currently published versions in western media do not include such a clauses.
Iran explicitly denies the accuracy of the currently published versions:
Source Refutes Bloomberg’s Alleged Text of MoU as Inaccurate – Tasnim
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – An informed source told Tasnim that the text published by Bloomberg regarding the memorandum of understanding between Iran and the US is not accurate.
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“As previously announced, the memorandum consists of 14 clauses, and the subjects covered by those 14 clauses have been discussed repeatedly in the media. However, the details presented by Bloomberg regarding each clause are, in many significant respects, incomplete,” the source said.“For instance, the first clause and the clause concerning the Strait of Hormuz, as presented by Bloomberg, are clearly inaccurate and omit several important key terms,” the source explained.
The source further noted that, based on the agreement between the parties, the text of the MoU will be published after it is signed on Friday, June 19.
There is speculation why false versions are put into circulation:
Mohammad Ali Shabani @mashabani – 13:54 UTC · Jun 17, 2026
Yesterday, the Israel Lobby began circulating what appears to be a previous draft of the Iran-US MoU. Today, major US outlets have magically gotten their hands on a basically identical document. The leaked draft does not contain apparent last-minute changes, such as a reference to the need for “ensuring” Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Both Iran and the US have said that nothing will be released until after their official signing ceremony in Switzerland on Friday.
Israel is clearly distraught by the MoU in general, and its initial clause in particular because Israeli forces will likely have to leave Lebanon under a final deal.
The purpose of the seemingly fake leak appears to be to increase pressure on Trump to renege.
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There is pressure on Trump from the Zionist lobby as well as from hardline Republicans to step back from the MoU. AIPAC financed Democrats are also condemning the deal. They are attacking the president from the right for not winning while their voters believe that Trump should be attacked for starting the war.
Both parties are also criticizing the lifting of sanctions on Iranian oil sales.
But what please is the purpose of sanctions in the first place if they can not be lifted in exchange for concession from the sanctioned party? Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz. Its condition for reopening it is the lifting of sanctions.
Trump will be hard pressed by both parties in Congress to cancel the MoU. His critics however fail to point to better alternatives. Strategic oil reserves are running dry, tankers are still held up in Hormuz, and even if things go well it will take many months for oil prices to come down to more normal levels. (Things would by the way be much worse if China had not rapidly decreased its imports of oil.)
The continuing lack of oil on the market is giving Iran an huge advantage in upcoming negotiations.