Jun 23, 2026 12:01 pm IST

Opinion | The Great Surrender: Why This Is America's Worst Humiliation In Over 50 Years

There is no precedent in recent US history for an American president accepting such humiliating terms as in the Iran deal.

Naresh Kaushik Naresh Kaushik Columnist

Naresh Kaushik Columnist

A week after US President Donald Trump signed an agreement with Iran to end the war, the US lifted oil sanctions against the Islamic country for 60 days. Money will start flowing into Iran, and that too in dollars, reversing a decades-old policy of tough sanctions and isolation of Tehran. The US Vice-President, JD Vance, says Iran has agreed to invite nuclear inspectors after talks in Switzerland, from which it briefly pulled out after Trump's expletive-laden attack on its leadership and threats to bomb the country again. Tehran insists it has made no new commitment to the US. On Saturday, it again closed the Strait of Hormuz after Israel's attacks on its proxy, Hezbollah, in Lebanon.

This suggests how much the US and Israel's war has favoured Tehran. The memorandum of understanding that Trump signed in Versailles, France, last week was described by Iran's lead negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, as "a record of US failure". It has already been condemned by Trump's critics as a 'surrender' document - ironically, for the president who, in March, had demanded "unconditional surrender from Iran". In return for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, which had been open before the war, the MoU commits the US to lifting its blockade of Iranian ports, waiving all sanctions and unfreezing assets it held abroad. The 14-point document also includes a $300 billion reconstruction fund for Iran, effectively reparations. The US also agreed to withdraw its forces from the vicinity of Iran within 30 days of the final deal.

Unprecedented Humiliation

There is no precedent in recent US history for an American president accepting such humiliating terms. America's humiliation has been........

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