U.S. President Donald Trump signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to end the war with Iran.
A White House official said this to Reuters on the 17th local time. The U.S. online outlet Axios also reported, citing two senior U.S. officials, that the United States and Iran signed the MOU that day and, as a result, the MOU took effect.
The two countries had initially planned to meet in Switzerland on the 19th to sign it in person. However, it is known that moving up the signing time was discussed to enable the early reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
Earlier, the Trump administration said on the 14th that an electronic signature on the MOU was carried out with President Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf participating. The effective date of the MOU had also been set to coincide with the in-person signing ceremony on the 19th, but with the signing that day, the effective date appears to have been moved up.
Axios said the U.S. delegation led by Vice President Vance and the Iranian negotiating team led by parliament speaker Ghalibaf plan to proceed with follow-up talks in Switzerland on the 19th as scheduled.
However, it is still uncertain whether the in-person signing ceremony scheduled for the 19th will go ahead as is.
Barak Ravid of Axios said on the social media platform X that "President Trump signed the MOU while having dinner with the French president at the Palace of Versailles in France, and photos of the signed document were delivered to Iran and the mediating countries."