One thing is certain about the recent Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) agreement designed to start negotiations on how to end the U.S.-Israel-inspired war on Iran: There is no “agreement!”

Conflicting messages continue to be fired across the bow as the war enters its fourth month. Previous declared “ceasefires” never stopped missiles from being fired. The 14 points, or “understandings,” outlined in the MoU are interpreted differently depending on who’s doing the talking.

Shortly after signing the MoU, President Donald Trump declared the Strait of Hormuz open to ship traffic and that there would be no tolls charged for passage now or in the future.

Iranian authorities announced ships seeking to pass must get their approval and a permanent decision about the Strait, as stated in the MoU, would be decided by Iran and Oman, the two countries that border the waterway.

On June 25, Iran reportedly fired on a ship trying to navigate the Strait. A day later, the U.S. military fired on positions in Iran in response.

The MoU calls for a ceasefire “on all fronts,” including Lebanon, where Israel has continued to fire on Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed group of resistance fighters. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced he has no intention to stop firing on Hezbollah or withdraw from Lebanon, which is a potential peace dealbreaker for Iran.

The MoU stipulates that Iran’s frozen assets would be made available to the Islamic Republic for use “upon implementation” of the MoU. Mr. Trump had declared that any funds would be spent to purchase agricultural and medical products from U.S. farmers and manufacturers. Iran declared it would spend its money as it pleases.

The Trump administration said it attacked Iran to destroy its capacity to develop a nuclear weapon. Shortly after the first negotiations between the U.S. and Iran on June 22, Vice President JD Vance announced that Iran had agreed to allow international inspectors back into the country.

But Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said there were no such plans, according to the BBC. President Trump posted on social media, “If they did not agree to this, there would be no further negotiations.”

Many argue that Iran won the deal … and the war to this point. Tensions have arisen between Mr. Trump and representatives of the Republican Party, over whom he has exerted considerable control.

Several Republicans joined Democrats recently to pass a War Powers Resolution, a mostly symbolic effort that calls on the president to get approval from Congress to continue the fighting. Shortly thereafter, another vote sided with the president when a few legislators voted differently or abstained from the vote.

The president’s approval ratings have fallen to the mid- to upper-30% range since the unpopular war started, according to polls. The drop is mostly attributed to disapproval of the war, rising gas prices, and the cost of food and other necessities. Even Gulf allies are souring on Mr. Trump, according to a recent Washington Post article.

The article reveals that government officials from the UAE tried to dissuade Mr. Trump against the war and they publicly lavish praise on him. Privately, however, one official expressed they got “played.”

One businessman told the Post of excitement around Trump’s announcement of a $2 trillion investment deal in the region, and a campaign promise to be a “no war president.” That changed, however, when war threatened tourism, the economy, regional security and danger to infrastructure. “We got played,” the businessman told The Post.

Phyllis Bennis, program director with the Institute for Policy Studies, told The Final Call Mr. Trump’s MoU is a ceasefire agreement, while the JCPOA agreement negotiated by the Obama administration was a nuclear inspections agreement, one that Mr. Trump tore up during his first term.

The MoU calls for opening the Strait of Hormuz, which was not closed before the war, she pointed out.  “The urgency to end the war was crucial,” she said. “The MoU was designed to be done quickly, so they left out clarity. Instead of the impossibility of going for a nuclear agreement, Trump went for a ceasefire.”

Ms. Bennis said the biggest threat to the MoU is Israel’s determination to stay in Lebanon to fight Hezbollah, an opinion activist Ajamu Baraka, agrees with.

The attacks on Iran and Lebanon are efforts to undermine the only state in the region that can challenge Israel, Mr. Baraka told The Final Call. He postured that U.S. strategy is to exert hegemony in the Americas through its invasion of Venezuela, thus hurting China’s economy by disrupting its access to Venezuelan crude, as well as consolidating power with Israel in the Middle East.

“Trump had called for unconditional surrender from Iran,” said Mr. Baraka, director of the Black Alliance for Peace Centered Human Rights, adding he feels “the MoU was Mr. Trump’s way of pausing the conflict.”

On a recent 1A broadcast on National Public Radio, Al Monitor news Editor in Chief Joyce Karam speculated that Iran is paying attention to the negative polls and the waffling of some of Mr. Trump’s Republican legislators.

“We’re at half-time,” she said of the fighting. “Iran got themselves a sweet deal and the (Trump) administration is in a tough spot. They want to end the war but don’t have enough cards to pressure Iran. [Iran] knows the American public wants an end to the war.”

She added that President Trump is “playing a divide-and-conquer” strategy by sending Vice President Vance to talk to the Saudis while sending Secretary of State Marco Rubio to talk to Gulf state allies.