Now that the Memorandum of Understanding has been signed, a 60-day period of talks will begin, primarily on Iran's nuclear energy.
In terms of negotiations, Tehran and Washington are largely in the same place as before the war - and even before the 12-Day War in 2025, when President Trump gave Iran a 60-day deadline to reach a new nuclear energy agreement with the United States.
"We have an agreement to try to reach an agreement," Aron Lund, analyst at the Swedish Defence Research Institute (FOI), sums up the new agreement.
“Iran won”
The agreement is effective immediately. It means, among other things, that traffic through the Strait of Hormuz - which was open before the outbreak of war in February - should return to previous levels within 30 days. According to the agreement, the waterway should be toll-free, but Iran has claimed that it can charge a “service fee.”
“Trump praises an Iran deal that solves nothing but a problem caused by his own war,” reads an analysis in The Guardian.
The agreement also stipulates that the United States and its allies in the Middle East will secure at least $300 billion for reconstruction and economic growth in Iran. In addition, sanctions against Iran will be eased, including on the country's exports of crude oil and petroleum products.
"They are getting several things that they didn't have before the war. So in that sense, you could say Iran won," Amir Handjani of the Quincy Institute think tank told AFP.
Strengthened the regime
The US seems to have gradually watered down its original demands and expectations for the agreement, notes Aron Lund. A number of difficult questions must be answered in the next 60 days.
Especially regarding the nuclear issue, but also the blockades in the Strait of Hormuz and the sanctions against Iran. All of this should be resolved gradually.
The war has weakened Iran - but also partly strengthened the regime's hand, says Lund. The question is whether the US has any means of pressure left, besides returning to full-scale war.
If not, the Iranian government can really get a breather now. The US will not enter this very unpopular state of war again. At least not before the midterm elections.
“It got worse”
So what has the US actually achieved with the war? From an American perspective, there are several successes, says Aron Lund: a largely sunk Iranian fleet, bombed-out missile factories and a dead Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
But given the United States' initially high-flying war goals, the victories are few.
Was the goal a more obedient Iran in foreign policy? We don't seem to have achieved that. Was it a more democratic Iran? We haven't achieved that either. The nuclear program? No change so far.
And the Hormuz issue? The situation there has gotten worse, Lund says.
