The deal's all signed. But the details haven't been published yet.
At the G7 summit in the French Alps, Donald Trump declared a peace agreement with Iran complete — the strait of Hormuz to open by Friday, the long standoff resolved. Yet the announcement arrived faster than the architecture to sustain it: unresolved questions about maritime fees, nuclear verification, frozen assets, and Israeli military actions in Lebanon revealed that what had been declared finished was, in truth, only beginning. History has seen many such moments where the announcement of peace precedes the harder work of making it real.
- Trump declared the Iran deal 'all signed' at the G7, but within hours the agreement was visibly fracturing under the weight of its own unresolved details.
- Iran insists it won the right to charge maritime tolls in the strait of Hormuz — a claim Trump flatly denies, leaving European shipping and naval plans in legal limbo.
- An Israeli drone strike killed a person in southern Lebanon on the same day the deal was announced, with Netanyahu vowing Israel is not bound by Trump's agreement and reserves the right to strike Iran independently.
- G7 leaders, who refused to let the US use European bases during the Iran campaign, are now scrambling to install enforcement mechanisms before a formal signing ceremony in Geneva on Friday.
- Not a single dollar of Iran's frozen assets has been released, no sanctions have been lifted, and technical negotiations on the nuclear program have not yet begun — the hardest work lies entirely ahead.
Donald Trump arrived at the G7 summit in the French Alps declaring the deal with Iran finished — signed, sealed, and set to open the strait of Hormuz by Friday. Speaking alongside Emmanuel Macron, he rejected a joint British-French naval proposal, insisting American power alone would secure the waterway. Oil prices were falling, markets rising; Trump framed it as a victory.
But the agreement's foundations were visibly incomplete. White House officials promised to publish the full text within 48 hours, while acknowledging that negotiations on Iran's nuclear program, frozen assets, and sanctions relief had not yet begun. No frozen funds had been released. American forces would remain in place until Iran demonstrated compliance — though what that compliance would look like remained undefined.
The sharpest dispute concerned the strait itself. Iranian officials claimed the deal granted them the right to charge maritime fees — a tolling system European leaders had fiercely opposed as a violation of freedom of navigation. Trump denied it, calling the strait 'toll-free,' but the contradiction left shipping companies warning that normal trade could take months to resume.
Israel complicated matters further. An Israeli drone strike killed one person in southern Lebanon — the second death since the ceasefire was meant to hold. Netanyahu distanced himself from the negotiations entirely, calling it 'Trump's deal,' vowing Israel would not withdraw from occupied Lebanese territory, and reserving the right to strike Iran over nuclear concerns. Far-right coalition members went further, declaring the agreement non-binding on Israel altogether.
Among G7 allies, the mood was one of anxious skepticism. Leaders who had refused Trump the use of European bases now worried the episode had weakened American credibility and damaged western economies. One diplomat called it 'a crash-and-burn moment for American unilateralism.' Trump's team countered that Iran had been substantially weakened and now had a path back into the global economy — if it accepted rigorous nuclear verification. Whether that bargain could survive the week ahead remained deeply uncertain.
Donald Trump arrived at the G7 summit in the French Alps on Monday with a declaration that sounded final: the deal with Iran was done, signed, sealed. The strait of Hormuz would be completely open by Friday. But within hours of his announcement, the fragile agreement began showing cracks so visible that western leaders found themselves scrambling to prevent it from collapsing before the ink had even dried.
The core of the arrangement was straightforward enough. In exchange for the United States lifting its naval blockade on Iran, Tehran would open the strait of Hormuz—one of the world's most critical shipping channels, through which roughly a third of global maritime oil trade passes. Trump, speaking alongside French president Emmanuel Macron, rejected a proposal from Britain and France to deploy a joint naval task force to keep the waterway secure, insisting American power alone would suffice. He noted that oil prices were already falling and stock markets rising, framing the agreement as an economic win. The formal signing ceremony was scheduled for Geneva on Friday, with Vice President JD Vance and Iranian chief negotiator Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf set to attend.
Yet the details that would actually make the agreement work remained unresolved. White House officials promised to publish the full text within 24 to 48 hours, but technical discussions on the thorniest issues—Iran's nuclear program, the unfreezing of billions in Iranian assets, the lifting of sanctions—had not yet begun. The administration suggested it would release frozen funds in stages, contingent on Iranian compliance, but declined to specify what constituted sufficient Iranian "gestures" of good faith. As of Monday, they confirmed, not a single dollar of frozen assets had been released by the United States or any other country. American military forces would remain in their current positions near Iran; no drawdown was planned until Tehran demonstrated it would honor its commitments.
The agreement's most contentious unresolved question concerned maritime fees. Iranian officials insisted that last-minute changes to the deal granted them the right to charge for maritime services in the strait—effectively a tolling system that European leaders, committed to freedom of navigation, had fiercely opposed. Trump denied this, claiming the strait would be "toll-free," but the disagreement cast doubt on whether the Franco-British naval task force would even be able to operate. Shipping companies warned it would take months for trade to return to normal.
Meanwhile, Israel was already testing the agreement's limits. An Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon killed one person on Monday—the second death since the 60-day ceasefire was supposed to take effect. German chancellor Friedrich Merz warned Israel that the ceasefire must apply to Lebanon; European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen declared that "there can be no lasting peace whilst Lebanon remains in flames." Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei insisted the entire deal was contingent on Israel's compliance with the ceasefire.
In Israel itself, anger and concern deepened throughout the day. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu distanced himself from the negotiations, calling the agreement "Trump's decision" and insisting Israel retained its own interests. He vowed that Israel would not withdraw from Lebanese territory it was occupying and reserved the right to strike Iran if it detected movement toward nuclear weapons development. Opposition politicians seized on what local media called an "abject failure"—none of Netanyahu's stated war aims from February, including regime change in Tehran and destruction of Iran's nuclear program, had been achieved. Far-right members of his coalition demanded Israel ignore the agreement entirely, with national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir declaring that "Trump's agreement does not bind us."
Trump faced skepticism from fellow G7 leaders who had refused to let him use European bases for attacks on Iran and believed the entire episode had weakened the United States while damaging western economies in competition with China. One western diplomat captured the mood bluntly: "This has been a crash-and-burn moment for American unilateralism." Yet Trump's officials argued the war had left Iran "substantially weakened" and now offered the country a path back into the global economy—provided it submitted to rigorous nuclear verification. Whether that vision could survive the next week of technical negotiations, Israeli military actions, and Iranian demands remained profoundly uncertain.
Citas Notables
The deal's all signed. And the strait is already partially opened.— Donald Trump, arriving at G7 summit
Trump's agreement does not bind us. We must not settle for anything less than the dismantling of Hezbollah.— Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israeli national security minister
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
When Trump says the deal is "all signed," what does that actually mean if the details aren't published yet and technical talks haven't started?
It's a declaration of victory before the work begins. The memorandum of understanding exists, yes—it will be formally signed Friday in Geneva. But the real agreement, the one that specifies what Iran actually has to do and what the US actually has to give, that's still being negotiated. Trump is claiming closure to shape the narrative.
So the frozen assets—billions of dollars—those stay frozen for now?
Completely. Not a dollar has moved. The administration is signaling it will release them in stages, but only if Iran makes what they're calling "small gestures." They won't say what those gestures are. It's leverage dressed up as negotiation.
And Israel is already violating the ceasefire in Lebanon. How does that not blow up the whole thing?
That's the real fracture line. Iran says the deal is contingent on Israel stopping. Netanyahu says Israel isn't bound by Trump's agreement and won't leave Lebanese territory. So you have three parties—the US, Iran, and Israel—with three different understandings of what was actually agreed to.
The strait of Hormuz fees—is that a real disagreement or theater?
It's real. Iran says they won the right to charge for maritime services. Trump says it's toll-free. European leaders are terrified of a tolling system because it gives Iran leverage over global shipping. The Franco-British naval task force can't even deploy if Iran objects militarily. So the question of who controls that waterway is still completely open.
What do the G7 leaders actually think happened here?
They think Trump won a war that weakened Iran but didn't achieve any of Israel's stated objectives, and now he's trying to declare victory before the details fall apart. One diplomat called it a "crash-and-burn moment for American unilateralism." They're not angry publicly—no one wants a bitter inquest—but they're skeptical this holds.