Ships Moving Through Hormuz, GOP Critics Loud, and a 60-Day Clock Running: The Iran Deal's First 24 Hours

Since the U.S. and Iran signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Wednesday, June 18, the pace of developments on the ground has outrun the political fallout in Washington.

The Blockade Is Lifted. Ships Are Moving.

U.S. Central Command announced Thursday that its naval blockade on ships entering and exiting Iranian ports and coastal areas has ended, in what CENTCOM described as compliance with "the President's direction." According to AP News, maritime data confirmed that vessels previously stranded near the Strait of Hormuz have begun transiting. CENTCOM noted that U.S. Navy ships will remain "in the general area" to monitor compliance with ceasefire terms.

The Strait carries roughly 20% of the world's oil supply, according to NPR. That corridor has been effectively closed since the war's start following the February 28 U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran.

Iranian-placed mines remain an obstacle. According to NPR, the U.S. and allied nations are still in the process of clearing them, and how quickly commercial traffic scales back to pre-war volumes is an open question.

What the MOU Actually Says

NPR obtained a copy of the full MOU text. Key provisions include:

• Iran commits to letting commercial vessels transit the Strait "with no charge for 60 days only." After that, future "maritime services" will be determined by Iran alongside Oman and other Gulf states.
• The U.S. has lifted its naval blockade as one of the conditions of the ceasefire agreement.
• Both sides agree to negotiate a final deal within 60 days, extendable by mutual consent.
• Iranian oil exports are free from U.S. sanctions under the agreement.
• The document states that the ceasefire extends to Lebanon, which would require cooperation from the Israelis, who are not a party to the agreement.

Iranian officials have suggested they may impose "service fees" on ships transiting the Strait after the 60-day free window. According to NPR, industry analysts consider such fees legally questionable on an international waterway. No mechanism in the MOU text appears to prevent Iran from attempting this.

Khamenei Calls It a Win for Iran

Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei endorsed the deal Thursday but framed it as a concession extracted from a weakened adversary. According to BBC News, Khamenei said Trump had "out of desperation, used all kinds of leverage" to reach the agreement. He said future in-person negotiations with Washington "will not mean acceptance of the enemy's position."

Khamenei has not appeared in public since taking office in March, following the killing of his father and predecessor Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the February 28 strikes that started the war, according to BBC News.

Trump did not respond directly to Khamenei's statement, but posted on Truth Social that he expects the ceasefire to hold "on all fronts," including in Lebanon.

Vance Defends the Deal. The GOP Is Not Unified.

Vice President Vance held a White House briefing Thursday and defended the MOU. According to NPR, he insisted the U.S. holds "all the cards" and that Iran "will not significantly benefit" until it can "verify for us that they are changing their behavior." He described lifting the blockade as "not a new benefit to the Iranians" since they were selling oil before the blockade was imposed.

Vance is expected to lead the next round of negotiations in Switzerland as early as this weekend, though NPR reported he gave no firm date.

The strongest case for the deal is straightforward. U.S. gas prices had risen from $2.94 per gallon before the war to $4.05 as of Thursday, according to BBC News. A prolonged military campaign against a country that had already survived the initial strikes was producing no clear path to victory. Extracting a framework agreement under those conditions — including Iranian commitments to IAEA inspections and the reopening of a critical global waterway — is a defensible outcome.

The GOP opposition to that argument is real and should be taken seriously. According to AP News, some Republican senators and Trump allies have offered harsh reviews of the deal. Republican Senator Bill Cassidy described the agreement as the "worst foreign policy blunder in decades," saying "Iran's nuclear ambitions were not curbed, and they have learned that threatening the Strait of Hormuz works." Their core concern: Iran's nuclear program is deferred for 60 days rather than resolved, Iran's regime not only survived but claims vindication, and the MOU contains no verified enforcement mechanism on the nuclear question. BBC international editor Jeremy Bowen wrote that the deal "raises the inescapable question of what the war was for," noting that Tehran's strategy of blocking Hormuz "forced Trump to agree to a series of concessions that have infuriated and alarmed America's Iran hawks and the Israeli government."

Israel is a specific problem. The MOU calls for an end to the war in Lebanon. According to BBC News, Israel has rejected that condition, wanting "a free hand in Lebanon." That disconnect between what the U.S. signed and what Israel will accept is an active fault line, not a hypothetical one.

The Fuel Price Question

According to BBC News, UK petrol prices stood at 154.72p per litre as of Thursday, up from 132.05p before the conflict. Diesel was 174.30p per litre, up from 141.6p. Prices had begun drifting lower in recent weeks on deal expectations, but remain well above pre-war levels. Simon Williams, head of policy at the RAC, noted the recent fall in wholesale oil prices but stopped short of predicting a rapid return to pre-war pump prices.

The 60-day nuclear negotiation window is the single largest variable. If that process collapses, the case for Iran to reclose Hormuz or impose punishing "service fees" becomes politically easier for hardliners in Tehran to make.