Iranian Scholar Says the U.S. Never Truly Implemented the Memorandum of Understanding

An Iranian university professor said the memorandum of understanding was not properly implemented from the outset and that its first paragraph was effectively meaningless. According to Jin10, Iranian university professor Hakimeh Saghaye-Biria said Lebanon is still being attacked, and that the Israeli military has neither agreed to withdraw from southern Lebanon nor stopped strikes on Lebanese territory. She added that the U.S. side has continued to retain language about the use of force, which she said in substance violates the spirit of the memorandum’s first paragraph. Saghaye-Biria also said the second paragraph, which involves respect for the sovereignty of both sides, is equally important. She said sovereignty is not limited to land, but also covers territorial waters and airspace. She said Iran is watching whether the U.S. truly respects Iran’s sovereignty in the territorial waters of the Strait of Hormuz, or whether it is trying to bypass that premise in other ways. She said these issues need to be examined within a broader framework, including whether the memorandum was ever implemented from the beginning.