According to Press TV, Mr Baghaei said the decision for the document to be signed by the presidents was not accidental. The fact that it was signed by the leaders of the two countries means that the political cost of any violation will be higher, he explained.
The presidents of the United States and Iran signed remotely on Wednesday evening a bilateral agreement aimed at ending the war in the Middle East, with Tehran committing to dilute its stockpile of enriched uranium, in exchange for the lifting of US sanctions, while details are to be settled in further negotiations expected to begin on Friday.
The two sides reached an agreement this week to end the armed conflict that broke out on 28 February, with intense US and Israeli air strikes against the Islamic Republic, which cost the lives of thousands of people, mostly in Iran and Lebanon.
The “Islamabad memorandum of understanding,” which includes the Lebanon front, was signed by US President Donald Trump during his visit to France.
“I just signed it,” the Republican told reporters as he left a palace in Versailles where an official dinner was held in his honour. The White House later published a video on X showing him signing the document with a marker, while French President Emmanuel Macron, seated next to him, congratulated him before the document was handed to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was standing behind.
🚨 President Donald J. Trump has SIGNED the Iran Memorandum of Understanding at Versailles in France. 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/JQ6qlbvFAF
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) June 17, 2026
The document was also signed by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, according to Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei.
The IRNA news agency published photographs showing President Pezeshkian signing the agreement.
According to Press TV, Mr Baghaei noted that the decision to have the presidents sign the document was deliberate, as it increases the political cost of any breach.
Analysts noted that Tehran preferred to avoid public handshakes between Iranian and American officials at an official signing ceremony, as the Iranian side blames the US for the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on 28 February, and such images would carry political cost domestically.
Strait of Hormuz to reopen “without delay”
The signing of the agreement by the presidents means that the Strait of Hormuz will reopen fully “without delay” and the blockade of Iranian ports by US armed forces will be lifted “immediately,” Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said early in the morning.
He also confirmed that a ceremony will be held on Friday in Switzerland to mark the development and to begin “technical talks” between the parties.
Until Wednesday evening, it had been expected that the agreement would be signed by US Vice President JD Vance and Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Friday in Switzerland.
Mr Ghalibaf said in an interview on state television that the agreement “records the failure of the United States.”
Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem described the agreement as a “major victory” for Iran, thanking it for insisting on including the Lebanon front.
In a televised address, he urged the Lebanese government to “use” the agreement to “expel Israel” from Lebanese territory.
Opponents of the movement accuse Hezbollah of dragging Lebanon into the war on 2 March by launching rockets against Israel in retaliation for the death of Ali Khamenei.
Mr Qassem also called on the Lebanese government to halt direct negotiations with Israel, which began in April under US mediation.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun stressed earlier that the process is “independent” of the Washington Tehran agreement.
Two months of negotiations
The text of the agreement, read to journalists by a US official, provides that Washington will suspend, from the moment of signing, sanctions that had blocked Iranian oil sales. It also agreed to lift all sanctions imposed on Tehran if a final agreement is reached following negotiations lasting sixty days.
During this period, the two governments will discuss the creation of a mechanism that will allow the processing of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpiles through dilution, under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the US official said, describing it as a “major victory” for Washington.
According to the same source, Iran will allow within thirty days the full restoration of navigation in the strategically important Strait of Hormuz, whose de facto closure after the outbreak of the war shook the global economy.
The United States committed that, if a final agreement is reached, it will facilitate, in coordination with regional partners, particularly Gulf monarchies, the release of $300 billion in frozen funds for Iran’s reconstruction and economic development, without implying any US financial contribution.
Iran published the text of the agreement yesterday through the official IRNA news agency.
Leaders of the G7, whose summit took place in France, welcomed in a joint statement the “historic opportunity to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and to address threats linked to its regional activities and ballistic missile programme.”
China, for its part, said it is “absolutely necessary” for all parties to fully implement the agreement and avoid external “interference,” following a phone call between Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi.
The Chinese foreign minister stressed the need for proper management of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and for addressing the “serious concerns of the international community.”
Oil prices closed slightly higher, with markets remaining cautious ahead of the agreement. Brent crude rose by 0.75 per cent to $79.55 per barrel.
