Wednesday afternoon, June 17th, the president and his administration released a document they had been teasing for close to a week: a 14-point memo of understanding bringing the war with Iran to a close. Is that memo of understanding, that MOU, a victory or a defeat for the United States? Is that MOU a cause for celebration or humiliation?
On Wednesday, European leaders finished meeting for three days in France in a G-7 summit. Reported CBS News, “G7 Leaders Praise[d] Trump’s ‘Strong Leadership’ in [the] U.S.-Iran Deal. Yes, six world leaders praised the Iran MOU as a “very important step” or “very good deal.” Even France’s leader, Immanuel Macron praised the U.S.-Iran Peace Deal as “excellent.”??
Vice president JD Vance tried to sell the new MOU by telling us that unlike Barack Obama, who flew a cargo plane full of cash to Tehran, President Trump hammered the Iranian regime with 13,000 air strikes, leveled their navy, and then made the Iranians sign a freeze on their nuclear program. And, Vance said, trump kept the military hammer in play—telling the Iranians that if they step out of line in the next 60 days, the bombers will go right back in.
In other words, many people are sure that America is coming out of the Iran War victorious.
But this rosy assessment is not how everyone sees the Iran MOU. Iran and its puppet armies in Lebanon, Gaza, Iraq and Yemen are jubilant because they believe that Iran has brought America to its knees and that this MOU is an American surrender.
The General Staff of Iran’s armed forces put it like this:
Iranian forces have, through the imposition of their divine and iron will upon the humiliated American and Zionist enemies, demonstrated with strength that the enemy has no path other than accepting defeat and surrender.
Yes, the Iranian military says the Americans have been forced to surrender. So do the ten media outlets around the world who reprinted this quote. Hezbollah’s Al-Manar repeated that for Iran the MOU is “a great victory.
But what is true? Who really won the Iran war? Is this MOU a surrender for the USA or a surrender for the Iranians? In Wednesday’s MOU, Iran has agreed to keep the status quo of its nuclear program for 60 days. Even if the status quo is a superspeed sprint to build a bomb. Iran also agreed to open the Strait of Hormuz without charge for 60 days. After that, it seems almost certain that Iran will require payment for services and administrative work. And those charges will probably be in the million dollar per ship range.
Iran’s concessions are questionable. But how are we paying Iran for them? With one of the biggest jackpots in history. The 14-point MOU says that we will unfreeze $100 billion dollars worth of Iranian funds frozen in foreign banks. And we will go farther. We will tip Iran with a $300 billion reconstruction fund. Yes, you heard that right. $300 billion. In other words, we will buy Iran off with a grand total of $400 billion. That’s close to half a trillion dollars.
In other words, with the MOU that our president signed Wednesday afternoon, we will do what losers in wars are forced to do. We will pay tribute. We will pay reparations. $400 billion worth. That’s the art of the deal.
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About the author: Howard Bloom of the Howard Bloom Institute has been called the Einstein, Newton, Darwin, and Freud of the 21st century by Britain’s Channel 4 TV. Bloom’s new book is The Case of the Sexual Cosmos: Everything You Know About Nature is Wrong. Says Harvard’s Ellen Langer of The Case of the Sexual Cosmos, Bloom “argues that we are not savaging the earth as some would have it, but instead are growing the cosmos. A fascinating read.” One of Bloom’s eight previous books–Global Brain—was the subject of a symposium thrown by the Office of the Secretary of Defense including representatives from the State Department, the Energy Department, DARPA, IBM, and MIT. Bloom’s work has been published in The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Wired, Psychology Today, and the Scientific American. Not to mention in scientific journals like Biosystems, New Ideas in Psychology, and PhysicaPlus. Says Joseph Chilton Pearce, author of Evolution’s End and The Crack in the Cosmic Egg, “I have finished Howard Bloom’s [first two] books, The Lucifer Principle and Global Brain, in that order, and am seriously awed, near overwhelmed by the magnitude of what he has done. I never expected to see, in any form, from any sector, such an accomplishment. I doubt there is a stronger intellect than Bloom’s on the planet.” For more, see http://howardbloom.net or http://howardbloom.institute
References:
Foreign Sources
“France’s Macron Says G7 Countries ‘Unanimously Welcome’ US-Iran Deal.” *Dawn*, June 17, 2026. [https://www.dawn.com/news/2008598]
“Iran Media Publish Purported Details of Iran-US Draft Memorandum.” *Iran International*, June 14, 2026. [https://www.iranintl.com/en/202606141204]
“Iran’s Top Diplomat Says MoU with US ‘Has Never Been Closer.’” *Press TV*, June 12, 2026. [https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2026/06/12/770324/Iran-US-Islamabad-Araghchi]
“June 15: Iran-US MoU to End Imposed War Is Widely Welcomed as US Lifts Naval Blockade.” *Press TV*, June 15, 2026. [https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2026/06/15/770519/June-15–Iran-finalizes-MoU-as-tankers-and-cargo-ships-clear-US-naval-blockade]
“French President Welcomes US-Iran Peace Deal, Urges Swift Implementation.” Anadolu Agency, June 15, 2026. https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/french-president-welcomes-us-iran-peace-deal-urge-swift-implementation/3966953
“‘Shall Not Develop Nuclear Weapons’: The 14-Point Memorandum of Understanding between the US and Iran.” *The Times of Israel*, June 17, 2026. [https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-iran-deal-said-set-to-halt-regional-hostilities-including-in-lebanon-lift-blockade/](https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-iran-deal-said-set-to-halt-regional-hostilities-including-in-lebanon-lift-blockade/).
“Tehran Publishes Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding between Iran and US.” *Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA)*, June 17, 2026. [https://en.irna.ir/news/86186085/Tehran-publishes-Islamabad-Memorandum-of-Understanding-between](https://en.irna.ir/news/86186085/Tehran-publishes-Islamabad-Memorandum-of-Understanding-between).
“Trump Admits World Had Just ‘Four Weeks’ of Oil Left without Iran Deal.” *Press TV*, June 17, 2026. [https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2026/06/17/770641/Global-oil-reserves-critical-lows-pressure-US-to-accept-Iran-terms-Trump-admits](https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2026/06/17/770641/Global-oil-reserves-critical-lows-pressure-US-to-accept-Iran-terms-Trump-admits).
“Trump Signs Iran Memorandum Ahead of Versailles Dinner in France.” *Iran International*, June 17, 2026. [https://www.iranintl.com/en/202606177123](https://www.iranintl.com/en/202606177123).
“US-Iran Presidents Sign War-Ending MoU, Geneva Meeting Still on Track: FM Spox.” *Press TV*, June 17, 2026. [https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2026/06/17/770645/Iran-US-presidents-sign-war-ending-MoU-Geneva-meeting-still-on-track-FM-spox](https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2026/06/17/770645/Iran-US-presidents-sign-war-ending-MoU-Geneva-meeting-still-on-track-FM-spox).
“US–Iran Deal: What’s in the 14-Point Plan?” YouTube video, 4:12. Posted by ARY News, June 18, 2026. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSeD35-TLdA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSeD35-TLdA).