The MoU involved the US lifting its naval blockade and easing restrictions on Iranian oil exports, in exchange for Iran maintaining commercial navigation through the Strait of Hormuz. However, within weeks, the US reinstated sanctions and launched military strikes, leading to renewed tensions.

In this edition of Unscripted, Kaveh Taghvai interviews Majid Shakeri, the economic advisor to Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, Iran's Parliament Speaker and head of Iran's negotiating team, regarding indirect talks with the US.

Here are Press TV's latest top stories at 17:00 GMT on July 18, 2026.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei says the United States’ repeated violations of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) have once again proven the “worthlessness and invalidity” of the American president’s signature.

International shippers are shunning the so-called US-controlled Hormuz corridor over security fears amid renewed US aggression against Iran.

The decision by US president Donald Trump to break the memorandum with Iran and potentially return to war has exacerbated economic instability, with inflation surging by 31% since 2019.

An author & university professor says that the evil axis escalates the war on Iran in violation of the MoU.