US President Donald Trump signed the much-anticipated US-Iran peace deal memorandum of understanding (MoU) during a dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron at the G7 summit in Versailles on Thursday. As Trump sat beside Macron, US secretary of state Marco Rubio handed him the agreement. Before putting pen to paper, Trump remarked, “This was not easy.” After signing the document, Trump held it up and displayed the agreement to those gathered in the room. “President Trump signed tonight at Versailles the agreement between Iran and the United States. This agreement paves the way for lasting peace and allows the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. It is an important step in the right direction for our compatriots that will soon enable a decrease in energy prices,” Macron said, welcoming the deal, in a post on X. From Iran’s side, its President Masoud Pezeshkian signed the dea.The development represents a major move towards easing tensions after months of escalating hostilities in the region, including military clashes involving Iran, Israel and the United States. The agreement, officially titled the “Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding between the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran,” outlines a roadmap for a ceasefire, expanded economic cooperation, sanctions relief and future talks on Iran’s nuclear programme. It remained unclear whether the signing triggered the start of a 60-day window for negotiations aimed at reaching a final agreement. Questions also remained over how Trump’s signature on the document at Versailles differed from his earlier digital approval of the deal on Sunday. Versailles has been the venue for several landmark treaties throughout history, many of them linked to the conclusion of wars and territorial disputes. The most notable was the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, which formally ended World War I. Its punitive conditions on Germany have been cited by some historians as contributing to the political and economic conditions that later helped fuel World War II.
