Hello, readers and listeners! This week on KK&F we bring you a new conversation untangling the murky details of the MOU (memorandum of understanding) that Trump signed earlier this week (on June 15) and acknowledging how it’s a major departure from Trump’s demand of Iran’s unconditional surrender. Murtaza Hussain of Drop Site News is here to help us put it all together. So watch below:

Just after news of the brokered deal went public, Murtaza wrote a piece for Drop Site News documenting mixed reactions and protests in Iran as a response to what some view as their leaders’ unnecessary and unjustifiable capitulation. He attests to the fact that the deal was largely accepted, but delves into a case that dissenters are making: that the US cannot be trusted to abide by any agreement. Now, Trump has agreed to permit Iran to sell oil and to lift sanctions, provided that Iran cease the development of any nuclear weapons and open the Strait of Hormuz. (It’s a fourteen-point plan, but those points stand out to us.)

Will it all go through? Will this deal be enough? It’s a question we’ve asked before, weeks and months ago on this podcast, when peace seemed right around the corner but the U.S. invariably reneged on a ceasefire or failed to abide in other ways by the terms of an agreement. We’ve also talked about the sabotage Israel could inflict here, striking at Iran by undermining the deal and especially by continuing its bombing of Lebanon. And we’ve certainly touched on the status of this conflict as an utter, messy loss for Trump’s government. So we return to topics like this with totally new and fresh information from this latest development, and Murtaza, who has been closely following and reporting on these questions for months, is the perfect person to lead any conversation on how our sense of what’s possible in this war and what it would take to end it.

And, of course, the story wouldn’t be complete without getting to take some shots at J.D. Vance, who’s getting to be the poster boy for a peace deal he seems not to like at all. As CNN reports, it’s risky business for him as any instability with the deal or perceived weakness on the part of the Trump government will harm him (and his 2028 presidential plans) worst of all. Now, obviously we’d love that! But it’s interesting to consider Trump’s strategy here and Vance’s agency in doing his own strategizing to protect himself. And consider it we do!

Thanks for tuning into this episode of KK&F. We’ll see you Saturday on major streaming platforms when this episode releases on Spotify, Pandora, Apple Podcasts, and more.