IRGC says patrols and checkpoints to continue in Tehran

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday that the memorandum of understanding with the United States was a “historic document."

“Peace will be achieved in the shadow of mutual respect,” Pezeshkian wrote on X.

He said the Islamic Republic remained committed to global peace while preserving its dignity and independence, as well as to progress and regional cooperation.

As Tehran and Washington move toward a memorandum to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, messages from inside Iran show anger that the deal speaks of uranium, Lebanon and money, while ordinary Iranians remain absent from the text.

The messages, sent to Iran International on Thursday, reflect grief, suspicion and political anger after details emerged of the memorandum between Tehran and Washington.

The agreement outlines a halt to the war, a 60-day negotiation period, steps toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz, possible oil waivers and discussions over frozen assets and sanctions relief.

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The US Justice Department is investigating how Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei built a global investment portfolio with exposure to Wall Street banks, Bloomberg reported, citing four officials with direct knowledge of the matter.

The probe is examining allegations of money laundering and corruption, including possible involvement by American financial institutions such as JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup in facilitating large money movements between firms overseen by Khamenei, according to the report.

Bloomberg said investigators are looking at the role of US correspondent banks and possible gaps in due-diligence procedures that may have allowed financial flows linked to Khamenei’s network. The existence of the probe does not mean charges will be filed, the report said.

Khamenei, who became supreme leader in March after his father was killed in a US-Israel airstrike at the start of the Iran war, has not been seen publicly since taking office.

Bloomberg previously reported that Khamenei had built a sprawling business empire involving Persian Gulf shipping, Swiss bank accounts and luxury properties in Britain, with funds routed through financial institutions in the UK, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and the UAE.

The report said the Justice Department’s investigation has become more diplomatically sensitive as Washington and Tehran move through an interim peace agreement that was signed Wednesday to end the war and open talks on wider issues, including Iran’s nuclear program.

Before becoming supreme leader, Khamenei relied heavily on financier Ali Ansari, whose banking, construction and trading interests served as a conduit for moving funds abroad, Bloomberg reported. Ansari has denied any relationship with Khamenei.

The report said the DOJ is also examining European and Middle Eastern lenders, as well as property-related payments by the network to global brands, including Hilton Worldwide.

US War Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Thursday that Washington reached its agreement with Iran from a “position of strength,” warning that the United States could reimpose an “ironclad blockade” if Tehran fails to comply.

Hegseth said during a meeting of NATO Defense Ministers at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium that the US would be prepared to resume its campaign if Iran does not fulfill its commitments, adding that Washington would remain the “big stick” behind the negotiations.

He said any changes to the US troop presence in the Middle East would be conditions-based, and insisted there were “no giveaways” in the agreement.

Hegseth also said European countries were prepared to step up on the Strait of Hormuz.

The messages, sent to Iran International on Thursday, reflect grief, suspicion and political anger after details emerged of the memorandum between Tehran and Washington.

The agreement outlines a halt to the war, a 60-day negotiation period, steps toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz, possible oil waivers and discussions over frozen assets and sanctions relief.

• 

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But for many Iranians who responded, the central question was not what the Islamic Republic might receive, or whether Washington would enforce the terms. It was why ordinary Iranians appeared absent from the agreement.

“We gave our fallen, we endured more hunger and poverty, there was war, we moved further away from our dreams, we were hurt, we were killed unjustly, but uranium was the main issue,” one message said. “In these several clauses of the agreement, there was no word about the people of Iran.”

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Another message described the memorandum as an agreement signed “over the bodies of Iran’s children,” referring to what the sender said were 42,000 lives lost.

The message reflected a broader anger among several respondents who saw the deal as a bargain made after months of bloodshed and repression.

Some directed their anger at US President Donald Trump, saying they had hoped Washington would side more clearly with the Iranian people. “Trump is a businessman who first sees his own profit and his country’s interests, and it does not matter to him what has happened or what will happen,” one message said.

Another sender wrote: “Tell Trump that your betrayal has remained so deeply in our hearts and minds that if one day America and Europe need the help of the people of Iran, not a single person will come toward you.”

Others focused on Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the lead Iranian negotiator expected to sign the memorandum in Switzerland on Friday. Ghalibaf has defended the document and urged officials to focus on improving the economy, but one message accused him of speaking more about Lebanon than about Iranians.

“Mr. Ghalibaf, in the same speech where you said we should fix people’s economy, you spoke several times more about Lebanon than about the people of Iran, and said the first clause of the agreement is also Lebanon,” the message said.

The 14-point memorandum includes a provision on ending military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon, and ensuring Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. It also includes provisions on the Strait of Hormuz, oil exports, frozen assets, sanctions and Iran’s nuclear program.

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  Hope, anger and distrust: Iranians debate Iran-US memorandum online

US officials have since sought to limit expectations, saying the memorandum does not provide Tehran with automatic access to frozen assets, immediate sanctions relief or direct US funding.

They said any economic benefit would depend on Iranian compliance and progress toward a final deal, particularly on nuclear issues.

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Inside Iran, however, the messages show that many are judging the agreement less by its financial mechanisms than by what it signals politically.

Some saw it as proof that the Islamic Republic’s long confrontation with the United States had ended in failure. “We are not fooled by the regime’s propaganda,” one message said. “The current memorandum between Iran and America was a definite defeat for the Islamic Republic’s 47-year policy.”

Another urged patience and unity, framing the deal as part of a longer process of weakening the system. “Be patient, regime change is happening, although at a gentle speed,” the message said. “Just stay united and give each other hope.”

But several messages were more despairing than hopeful. One sender compared the moment to a scene in a war film where a soldier, after fighting through chaos, suddenly stands still in shock and cries.

“That is how we, the people of Iran, feel with the news of the negotiations,” the message said.

Another asked why no country had insisted that Iranians themselves had rights that should be part of any settlement. “Why was there no one anywhere in the world to say that we, the people of Iran, had the right to live?” the message said. “Why should the human rights of all people in the world be respected except those of Iranians?”