President Donald Trump signed an agreement with Iran yesterday in Versailles. It is not the deal he promised.

On Feb. 28, announcing the start of the war with Iran, Trump addressed Iranians: “When we are finished, take over your government — it will be yours to take.” A week later, he posted that there would be “no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER.”

Nearly four months later, as he left the G7 summit in France, he shrugged off the notion of seizing Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium and conceded that the Iranian regime would have to be allowed “some” missiles because “it’s a little bit unfair for them not to have some.”

Regime change, stringent nuclear restrictions, withholding monetary relief — none of those commitments made it in the 60-day accord that lays the groundwork for future talks. The deal — a 14-point framework that a senior U.S. official referred to as a “gentleman’s agreement” — falls significantly short of the tough talk the president previously espoused. It also marks a sharp departure from the administration’s original objectives.

Objective: Iran’s “unconditional surrender”

Trump initially vowed he would accept only unconditional surrender from Iran. That hasn’t happened.

The president pushed a narrative that the military might of the U.S. would be too much for Iran to overcome, ultimately giving the U.S. all the leverage in negotiations. The text of the memorandum of understanding shows the U.S. gave into several Iranian demands.

Objective: Regime change

In the wake of the initial U.S.-Israeli strikes on Feb. 28, the president’s message to the people of Iran was simple: Regime change is coming.

“When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations,” Trump said.

Many Iranians saw the war as Trump fulfilling his promise to send help to protestors who were being killed in the country for opposing the regime.

He suggested that the U.S., along with allies, would play a role in installing new leadership, promising to “work tirelessly to bring Iran back from the brink of destruction.”

Iran still has an oppressive, authoritarian government. It is now led by Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, a hard-liner who was installed in March after his father, Ali Khamenei, was killed in the war’s opening strikes. There was no American role in the process.

Objective: An end to Iran’s missile capabilities

At the start of the war, Trump unequivocally said, “We’re going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground.” Other top administration officials echoed those claims, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

“This operation [has] a clear, devastating, decisive mission: destroy the missile threat, destroy the navy, no nukes,” Hegseth said on March 2.

There is no mention of Iran’s missile program as part of the current agreement — something that Mark Levin, an influential conservative commentator and close ally of Trump, called “an outrage.” 

In fact, Trump said yesterday that he had no problem with Iran having missile capabilities.

“Missiles aren’t the problem. Missiles, they hurt a little location, but they don’t blow up the planet,” Trump said. A few hours later, he doubled down, calling it “a little bit unfair for [Iran] not to have some.”

Objective: Obtain Iran’s highly enriched uranium

Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile was one of the key justifications for launching the war, even amid U.S.-Iran nuclear talks through Omani negotiators — and even after Trump said Iran’s program was “obliterated” in U.S. strikes last summer. 

The Trump administration has repeatedly said it wanted Iran’s uranium stockpile transferred out of the country. Early on in the war, the president said Iran had committed not to retain uranium — even for civilian or medical purposes. In mid-March, he was asked by a reporter if that was the case: “They have,” he said. In late May, he reiterated his red line on Truth Social: “The Enriched Uranium (Nuclear Dust!) will either be immediately turned over to the United States to be brought home and destroyed or, preferably, in conjunction and coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran, destroyed in place or, at another acceptable location.”

The memorandum doesn’t promise that. Under the current agreement, Iran will be allowed to keep its civilian nuclear infrastructure. And though Iran has committed to having inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency oversee the down-blending of its highly enriched uranium, the president is no longer demanding that it be turned over to the U.S. or a third country.

“It’s a little hard when other people have it, other adjoining states have it, and you’re not letting them have it for purposes of electricity and things like that,” Trump said on Wednesday. “You have to use a little common sense.”

Objective: End Iran’s support for terrorist proxies 

Another stated goal was ensuring “that the Iranian regime cannot continue to arm, fund and direct terrorist armies outside of their borders,” as the president said on March 2.

The MOU contains no clear restrictions on Iran’s ability to fund and arm its proxies, including Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis or militias in Iraq, and it would require an end to Israel’s war targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon.

“We have great confidence that we’re going to be able to see if they try to fund terrorist organizations,” Vice President JD Vance cautioned reporters on Thursday. 

Objective: No easing of sanctions

As recently as late May, Trump told reporters that there would be no financial relief for Iran: “We’re not talking about any easing of sanctions or giving money; no sanctions, no money, no nothing,” he said on May 27.

Three weeks later, the MOU calls for the U.S. to end “all types of sanctions” against Iran, makes its frozen assets “fully” available and commits Washington and its Gulf allies to helping Iran rebuild and boost its economy via a $300 billion fund, provided Iran abides by the agreement.

“Somebody is going to have to help them out,” Trump said on Wednesday.

Vance told MS NOW on Thursday that private money could help fund that effort, but no taxpayer dollars will be used. 

Objective: Expand the Abraham Accords

Trump previously said it would be “mandatory” for several Muslim-majority countries — including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, Türkiye, Egypt and Jordan — to join the Abraham Accords in exchange for “all the work done by the United States to try and pull this very complex puzzle together,” a reference to talks with Iran. The accords, which were brokered in Trump’s first term, normalized relations between Israel and multiple Muslim nations, including Bahrain and the UAE.

No such provision made it into the MOU.

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From MS Now.