What the JCPOA gave us, what abandoning it cost us, and what the MOU gets us back.
The quisling defenses of the Iran War and the Memorandum of Understanding are already forming.
Before they harden into conventional wisdom, it’s worth laying out what we actually gave up when the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was abandoned - and what it cost us to get it back.
The table below compares the MOU with the JCPOA, the multilateral nuclear agreement Trump unilaterally withdrew from in 2018. The single most important fact: when the JCPOA was in force, Iran’s uranium enrichment was capped at 3.67% and verified compliant by the IAEA.
After the US withdrew, Iran resumed enrichment in stepwise retaliation, ultimately reaching 60% - just steps from weapons-grade. The stated justification for the 2026war was preventing Iran from weaponizing that stockpile.
Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile did not exist under the JCPOA. Trump created the problem he then went to war to solve.
The MOU now offers Iran comparable or greater sanctions relief than the JCPOA provided - after a war that has cost the US an estimated $630 billion to $1 trillion,destabilized global energy markets, and killed thousands. The tables below tell the rest of the story.
Sources: JCPOA vs. MOU Comparison
JCPOA — Terms and Compliance
• What Is the Iran Nuclear Deal? — Council on Foreign Relations
• Fact Sheet: The Iran Deal, Then and Now — Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation
• Restoring the JCPOA’s Nuclear Limits — Arms Control Association
• Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action — Wikipedia
Iran Frozen Assets — JCPOA
• Iranian Frozen Assets — Wikipedia
• How Much Money Was Actually Unfrozen for Iran After the JCPOA? — Factually
• What Sanctions Relief Did the JCPOA Provide? — Factually
2025–2026 Iran–US Negotiations and MOU
• 2025–2026 Iran–United States Negotiations — Wikipedia
• Full Text of the Memorandum of Understanding — Arab Center DC
• Read the Full Text of Trump’s Preliminary U.S.–Iran Agreement — NPR
• Key Takeaways from the 14-Point MOU — ABC News
• Assessing the Islamabad MOU and the U.S.–Iran Nuclear Negotiations — Arms Control Association
MOU Financial Terms
• Breaking Down the Billions Iran Could Receive Under Trump’s Deal — Axios
• Iran Says Agreement Reached with US to Release $12 Billion in Frozen Funds — The National
• US Says Iran Won’t Get Funds Upfront Under MOU — Iran International
• MOU’s $300bn Iran Reconstruction Fund Becomes US Political Flashpoint — Al Jazeera
Strait of Hormuz
• 2026 Strait of Hormuz Crisis — Wikipedia
• 2026 United States Naval Blockade of Iran — Wikipedia
• Trump and Iran Sign Initial Deal to End War, Open Strait of Hormuz — NBC News
Cost of the War
• $25bn or $1 Trillion: How Much Has the Iran War Really Cost the US? — Al Jazeera
• Iran War Could Cost US Taxpayer $1 Trillion, Says Harvard Academic — CNBC
• Here’s How Much the Iran War Cost — and How Its Effects Will Linger — NPR
• Economic Impact of the 2026 Iran War — Wikipedia