Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro on Wednesday slammed the newly released U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding a “disaster,” saying the agreement fails to deliver on even one of the goals the Trump administration set when it launched its war against the Islamic Republic.

Speaking on Fox News hours after a senior administration official read out the 14-point text, Shapiro said the deal does not achieve “any of the actual signal goals that were set by the administration at the beginning.”

Shapiro, who has been among the president’s most vocal supporters on the military campaign, opened by praising the decision to strike Iran. He called the move to hit nuclear facilities in Operation Midnight Hammer and then target Iran’s ballistic missile sites, military and air defenses “the signal act of political bravery, perhaps, of my lifetime.”

He then turned to the text. “This MOU appears to be just from the text a disaster that does not achieve any of the actual signal goals that were set by the administration at the beginning,” Shapiro said.

Shapiro laid out five objectives he said the White House named at the outset and argued the agreement meets none of them.

On the nuclear program, he said the goal was an end to all enrichment, not just weapons. “No nuclear enrichment, zero enrichment, that is not in the deal,” he said. The MOU states that Iran reaffirms it will not procure or develop nuclear weapons and calls for Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium to be down-blended on site under International Atomic Energy Agency supervision. It does not require an end to enrichment, and a separate provision holds that Iran will maintain the current status quo of its nuclear program pending a final deal.

On ballistic missiles, Shapiro said the stated goal was to end the program, and that it is not in the deal. He noted that Trump suggested earlier in the day that Iran should be allowed to keep some missiles. At a G7 news conference in France, Trump said Iran has to retain some missiles “because other people have some,” adding, “Am I going to let Saudi Arabia have missiles, but they can’t have them?” The administration had earlier listed destroying Iran’s missile capacity as a core war aim.

On terrorism, Shapiro said there is nothing in the agreement that looks like an attempt to end Iran’s support for terror.

On the Strait of Hormuz, he said the goal was a permanent, toll-free reopening. He pointed to a provision that grants free passage for commercial vessels for 60 days only, and said the deal “appears to have a provision allowing Iran and Oman to attempt to toll the straits after 60 days.” The text directs Iran to use its best efforts for safe passage of commercial vessels “with no charge for 60 days only.”

On sanctions, Shapiro said relief was supposed to follow Iranian compliance, not precede it. “We’re already seeing from day one relief in their ability to ship oil out of Iran,” he said. The MOU directs the Treasury Department to issue waivers for Iranian crude oil exports immediately upon signing.

Shapiro reserved his sharpest criticism for Vice President JD Vance, the lead U.S. negotiator on the agreement. “In my opinion, the Vice President of the United States, the chief negotiator on this particular project, has not well served the President,” he said.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)