US Lifts Iran Naval Blockade After MoU to End Middle East War

The United States has lifted its naval blockade of Iran after both countries signed a deal to end hostilities in the Middle East, despite Iran’s Supreme Leader saying he held a different view and that President Donald Trump signed “out of desperation.”

US Central Command confirmed the lifting of the blockade on X “in accordance with the President’s direction,” and said US enforcement has ceased.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said he initially disagreed with the deal but allowed it to proceed after assurances from Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

The deal provides for an immediate halt to military operations on all fronts and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, among other measures.

US Vice President JD Vance defended the agreement, saying Iran will not receive money or sanctions relief unless it meets obligations in the deal.

The memorandum of understanding, MoU, does not give Iran any benefits until it proves it will “comply fully and change its behavior,” including destroying its stockpile of enriched uranium and showing it will not fund proxy groups in the region.

Speaking to reporters at a White House briefing Thursday, Vance said the deal took effect and triggered a 60-day period of further negotiations. He said he would likely travel to Switzerland for “technical negotiations,” but did not give a date. “Iran is not an easy country, and we’re trying to figure out exactly when that is going to happen,” he added.

The official signing ceremony for the MoU was scheduled for Switzerland on Friday. However, mediator Pakistan told the BBC the ceremony was canceled because the deal had already been signed remotely.

US and Iranian representatives are still expected to meet in Switzerland for further talks.

In a written statement published by Iranian media, Khamenei said officials working on the deal reached this stage “out of sincere concern and goodwill,” and that Trump “out of desperation, used all kinds of leverage to bring this about.”

Without elaborating, he said he held a “different view” and that while there will be “in-person negotiations in the future” between Tehran and Washington, this “will not mean acceptance of the enemy’s position.”

This is the first time the Supreme Leader has responded to the agreement.

Khamenei has not been seen in public since taking office in March, following the killing of his predecessor in US-Israeli strikes on Iran on Feb. 28 that sparked the regional war.

Trump did not directly respond to Khamenei’s statement but posted on Truth Social that he expects a ceasefire to take effect “on all fronts,” including between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon. He also expects Middle East countries to “maintain their commitment to allowing our negotiations” to proceed.

After the signing, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed the importance of maintaining close ties with the US, saying Washington stood “shoulder to shoulder” with Israel during the war with Iran.

Netanyahu’s comments came after members of his cabinet criticized the deal.

In response, Vance said critics should “wake up and smell the reality,” adding: “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 did not name the cabinet members in the briefing, but in an interview with The New York Times published Thursday, he identified National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich as critics.

“I guess my response to them would be: What is your exact proposal? You’re a country of nine million people. You can’t just kill your way out of solving every single national security problem that you have,” he said.