Is the U.S.-Iran agreement falling apart?
U.S. President Donald Trump, who is in Ankara to attend a NATO summit, said on Wednesday (July 8, 2026) that the ceasefire with Iran was
U.S. President Donald Trump, who is in Ankara to attend a NATO summit, said on Wednesday (July 8, 2026) that the ceasefire with Iran was “over”. His remarks came after tit-for-tat overnight strikes by the U.S. and Iran that threatened the already fragile ceasefire. The U.S. launched dozens of strikes on Iran in retaliation for what it said were Iranian attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, and reimposed sanctions on the trade of Iranian oil. In response, Iran targeted multiple U.S. bases and military assets in Bahrain and Kuwait. It also claimed to have shot down an American MQ-9 drone. West Asia War LIVE updates - July 8, 2026 Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s Parliament Speaker and top negotiator, accused the U.S. of violating the memorandum of understanding (MoU). “The era of bullying and extortion is over... we don’t fold,” he wrote in a social post. The current crisis has become the biggest stress test for the MoU, signed by the U.S. and Iran on June 17. When the MoU was reached, it was seen as a preliminary agreement that paved the way for serious negotiations between the U.S. and Iran on outstanding issues such as Iran’s nuclear programme and western sanctions on the country. In the MoU, Iran promised to allow safe passage of tankers through the Strait of Hormuz and never to make a nuclear bomb, while the U.S. agreed to lift its maritime blockade, ease sanctions and allow Iran to access some of its frozen funds.
But there were two major hurdles in the implementation of the MoU from the start. One was the war in Lebanon and the other was the status of the Strait of Hormuz. The war in Lebanon Article 1 of the MoU clearly states the ceasefire covers Lebanon, where Israel has been carrying out a bombing campaign in the name of fighting Hezbollah. Israel has also carved up Lebanese territory in the south, calling it a “security zone”. The MoU also calls for respecting Lebanon’s “sovereignty and territorial integrity”— an indirect call for Israeli troops to withdraw from Lebanon. But Israel has ruled out withdrawal. Hezbollah, an Iran-affiliated Shia militia, says it would continue to fight Israeli troops as long as they stay in Lebanon. And Israel is continuing its bombing of Lebanon, despite several ceasefire announcements, citing Hezbollah attacks. From Iran’s point of view, the first clause of the MoU is being violated from the very beginning as there is no ceasefire in Lebanon. On June 26, the U.S., Israel and the Lebanese government announced a trilateral framework linking Israeli withdrawal to the disarmament of Hezbollah. Iran again saw this as a joint U.S.-Israeli attempt to undermine the MoU. Though talks between the U.S. and Iran based on the MoU framework began in Geneva, there was no breakthrough. Mr. Trump’s occasional threats against Iran further deteriorated the already tense situation. Iran’s fear was that the U.S. was using the MoU to replenish global oil markets, as Vice-President J.D. Vance once mentioned in an interview, and take away Tehran’s leverage over the Strait of Hormuz.
The BriefWire