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.