The 5 Biggest Unanswered Questions In The Iran Deal

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**Mike Baker** (0:42)
It's Tuesday, the 16th of June. Welcome to The Presidents Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, as we discussed earlier today, the Iran deal or agreement or memorandum of understanding is now reportedly signed, but the hard part may just be beginning. And by may just be beginning, I mean, yeah, the hard part is definitely still to come. We'll take a closer look at the five biggest unanswered questions surrounding the US-Iran agreement, and we'll also ask the question, are there really only five big unanswered questions? Later in the show, President Trump heads to the G7 summit with what he calls a breakthrough Iran agreement in hand. We'll examine how that deal is influencing conversations on everything from Ukraine and trade disputes to China's growing global influence.
Plus, Israel pushes back on reports that the new U.S.-Iran agreement could affect its military presence in southern Lebanon. And in today's Back of the Brief, Israel announces the death of a Hezbollah commander, accused of orchestrating one of the deadliest attacks on American troops during the Iraq War.
But first, today's PDB Spotlight.
The U.S.-Iran agreement has now reportedly been signed by both sides. President Trump has declared the deal complete. May I recommend that you take that with a grain of salt, though, given past Iranian regime performance. Administration officials say the memorandum of understanding was signed electronically by both sides, and a formal signing ceremony is expected later this week. But while the agreement itself is now apparently a reality, many of the most important questions surrounding it remain unanswered. In fact, the difficult part is just beginning. So today, I want to take a look at the five biggest questions that still hang over this agreement, and may ultimately determine whether it becomes something resembling an actual peace agreement, or simply a temporary pause in the fighting.
Over the past several days, we've learned more about the broad contours of the agreement. The deal, according to the US side, appears to extend the ceasefire, reopen the Strait of Hormuz, launch a new round of negotiations over Iran's nuclear program, and potentially open the door to economic relief for Tehran.
What remains unclear is how those goals will actually be achieved. There also appears to be a difference in how the two sides are interpreting the memorandum.
So let's start with the Strait of Hormuz. The reopening of the strategic waterway has been one of the most heavily promoted aspects of this agreement. President Trump announced that the US blockade would be lifted and that commercial shipping would once again be allowed to move freely through the strait. But declaring the waterway open and actually restoring normal shipping traffic are two very different things. Major shipping companies are still proceeding cautiously. Insurance rates remain elevated. Crews want assurances that the security situation has stabilized. Even administration officials have acknowledged that the traffic may take time to return to pre-war levels. So one of the first real tests of this agreement won't be found in a diplomatic statement. It will be measured by the number of tankers and cargo vessels willing and able to transit the strait over the next several weeks, which means it will depend on the actions of the Iranian regime to comply with the agreement to allow for a free and open strait.
The second major question is what Iran actually receives in return. Both sides agree on some basics. Iran gets an end to active hostilities and receives sanctions waivers that allow it to export oil again. Beyond that, the picture becomes much less clear. Iranian media outlets have described a more generous package involving access to frozen funds and broader economic benefits. US officials, meanwhile, have pushed back on several of those reports. Vice President JD. Vance has specifically disputed claims that Iran would automatically receive tens of billions of dollars in frozen assets simply for signing the agreement. Instead, the administration insists that any meaningful economic relief will be tied to performance.
In other words, from the US perspective and interpretation, Tehran will have to meet specific obligations before receiving the full benefits of the deal.