Trump Signs 60-Day Memorandum of Understanding With Iran on Nuclear Negotiations
The agreement initiates a defined negotiating window with a stated deadline that the president has publicly described as subject to extension, creating ambiguity about enforcement.
President Donald Trump signed a memorandum of understanding with Iran on Wednesday, June 18, 2026, initiating a 60-day negotiating period between the United States and Iran, according to reporting by CBS News. The White House has not yet released the full text of the memorandum through the Federal Register or the White House briefing room as of publication time.
Trump publicly characterized the 60-day deadline as flexible, stating Iran would be given latitude 'as long as they're behaving,' according to CBS News. The precise conditions under which the deadline would be extended or enforced were not defined in public statements available as of June 18, 2026. The nature and scope of the memorandum — whether it constitutes a binding executive agreement, a political commitment, or an informal understanding — is not established by the source material. The Congressional Research Service has previously noted, in CRS Report RL32528, that memoranda of understanding between the executive branch and foreign governments vary significantly in legal weight depending on their construction.
The agreement follows years of suspended nuclear diplomacy between the United States and Iran. The 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, from which the U.S. withdrew in May 2018 under the first Trump administration (White House statement, May 8, 2018), was never formally replaced by a successor agreement. Iran has since expanded its uranium enrichment program beyond JCPOA limits, according to International Atomic Energy Agency quarterly verification reports.
Congress has a potential role in any agreement that reaches the threshold of a treaty or meets the criteria of the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 (Public Law 114-17), which requires the executive branch to submit certain Iran-related agreements for congressional review. Whether this memorandum of understanding triggers that review process is not established by current public records. No congressional statement of review initiation was on record as of publication.
What remains unknown: the full text of the memorandum of understanding, the specific benchmarks or conditions Iran must meet during the 60-day window, and whether the administration intends to submit any resulting agreement to Congress under Public Law 114-17. Release of the memorandum through the White House briefing room, the Federal Register, or a State Department press statement would answer the first question. A formal congressional notification letter or State Department legal determination would answer the latter two.