JERUSALEM, Israel – Just days after President Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed the Memorandum of Understanding ending the Iran War, questions are growing about what the agreement means for Israel, Iran, and the region’s future.
Vice President JD Vance postponed a planned trip to meet Iranian negotiators in Switzerland today, delaying the start of talks on implementing the 14-point agreement between Tehran and Washington.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, U.S. CENTCOM posted on X, declaring, “Today, U.S. forces lifted the blockade on all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports and coastal areas, in accordance with the president’s direction.”
A timelapse video showed merchant vessels once again moving through the Strait of Hormuz after weeks of disruption.
According to the statement, U.S. naval ships “will remain in the general area to make sure that all aspects of the agreement are adhered to.
The agreement is creating tension with Israel. Vice President JD Vance told The New York Times that he found “this whole freakout in Israel a little bit odd,” referring to Israeli ministers who have called for Israel to disregard the terms of the deal, describing it as a danger to the country’s security.
“If I was in the cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world,” Vance remarked.
He added, “Over the last three months, two-thirds of the defensive weapons that have protected your homeland have been built by American hands and paid for by American tax dollars,” insisting, “Donald J. Trump is the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time.”
Vance also defended President Trump’s position that Iran may retain some missile capabilities for self-defense.
“You can’t tell the country, whether Israel or Iran, they’re not allowed to have any self-defense,” he said.
The vice president asserted that any final agreement would still prevent Iran from developing missiles capable of threatening the wider world.
“What we want to see is Iran not…trying to rebuild their nuclear weapons program,” he elaborated. “That’s the main thing.”
President Trump said on Thursday, “We expect a complete ceasefire on all fronts, including Lebanon, Hezbollah, and Israel,” after signing the deal with Iran declaring the permanent end of military operations in Lebanon.
Vance also addressed Lebanon, saying, “We expect Hezbollah is not going to be firing rockets and firing drones at the Israelis. But we also expect that the Israelis are not going to be going wild in Lebanon.”
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Iran has demanded that Israel withdraw its troops from a buffer zone in Lebanon as part of the agreement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Thursday that “Israel must maintain a security zone in southern Lebanon.”
He contends that Israel’s security depends on keeping a military presence in the territory, “Because this zone separates Hezbollah terrorists from our citizens and our communities.”
Overnight, an Israel Defense Forces tank battalion commander and three other soldiers were killed in a Hezbollah attack on southern Lebanon.
The IDF says it carried out strikes early this morning on Hezbollah operatives and infrastructure across southern Lebanon in response to “repeated violations of the ceasefire” by the Iranian-backed terror group.
Questions also remain about Iran’s nuclear program.
Trump envoy Steve Witkoff told U.S. lawmakers on Thursday that Iran will invite American and U.N. inspectors to sites containing enriched nuclear material.
A leaked version of the memorandum indicates that Iran’s enriched material would remain inside the country and be diluted under area supervision rather than being removed from Iran
Inside the Islamic Republic, Hassan Khomeini, the grandson of the first Iranian supreme leader, has hailed the agreement between the U.S. and Iran as a major “victory” for Tehran.
He promised, “the greater jihad would now begin.”
The regime has struggled to suppress growing domestic dissent. During the January demonstrations, tens of thousands of protesters were killed, and security forces detained tens of thousands.
