US and Iran May Sign Memorandum of Understanding Early, Opening Strait of Hormuz Sooner

United States and Iran may sign a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday. This could open the Strait of Hormuz earlier than planned. The agreement's provisions would take effect immediately. The US might release the full text on Wednesday. Discussions are ongoing about shifting the timeline.

The United States and Iran are in discussions to move up the signing of their memorandum of understanding (MOU) to Wednesday, potentially opening the Strait of Hormuz sooner than the previously scheduled Friday ceremony, according to an Axios report citing a diplomat from one of the mediating countries and a second source familiar with the discussions.

If the signing is brought forward, the MoU would be executed electronically, the Strait of Hormuz provisions would come into force immediately, and the US may release the full text of the agreement on Wednesday itself, the report said.

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As of Wednesday morning, no final decision had been made on shifting the timeline, and the White House declined to comment.

Why the timetable may shift

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The diplomatic source told Axios that discussions around accelerating the schedule were primarily aimed at opening the strait sooner, with both parties already in agreement on that issue.

A second factor is the mounting political pressure on the White House to make the MOU text public. However, the source familiar with the discussions said it was Iran, not the White House, that had insisted the text not be published before the formal signing ceremony.

Friday meeting still on

Even if the signing is moved up, the in-person meeting between US Vice President JD Vance and Iranian parliamentary speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf will still take place as planned on Friday in Switzerland. The two delegations are expected to discuss the launch of negotiations on Iran's nuclear programme.

Conflicting accounts on prior signing

A senior US administration official told reporters that the deal had already been signed electronically on Sunday by President Donald Trump, Vance and Ghalibaf. However, the diplomatic source told Axios that no such signing had taken place. The source familiar with the discussions said it did happen, and that Wednesday's signing would be a "second signing" though the reason for two signings remains unclear.

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The White House had previously said the opening of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran and the lifting of the US naval blockade would begin only after the formal Friday ceremony. If the signing is moved to Wednesday, those steps would be brought forward accordingly, per the diplomatic source.