White House: Draft Memo on War Posted by Iranian State Media Is False

The White House on Wednesday denied a report from Iranian state-run media that Washington and Tehran are considering a memorandum of understanding on resolving the war.

Iranian state media published an alleged draft peace proposal with the United States that outlined a restoration of ​commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz to ⁠pre-war levels within a month along with the withdrawal of U.S. military forces and naval blockade from the region.

According to state media, the alleged memorandum of understanding, or MOU, came from indirect talks launched ​after the ​war that began ⁠in February, with Pakistan playing a central mediating role between Tehran and Washington.

However, the White House said that those reports are false and that claims pushed by Iranian state media should be carefully scrutinized.

“This report from Iranian controlled media is not true and the MOU they ‘released’ is a complete fabrication,” said the White House’s response team in a post on X on Wednesday. “Nobody should believe what Iranian state media is putting out. FACTS MATTER.”

The statement from the White House comes as President Donald Trump is convening a Cabinet meeting at Camp David, the presidential retreat located in Maryland, amid pressure to resolve the conflict quickly.

Since the U.S.–Israeli military operation began on Feb. 28, the Strait of Hormuz that connects the Persian Gulf with the broader ocean has largely remained closed, sending oil and gas prices surging. U.S. officials have said that Iran cannot have control of the strait or impose toll fees on commercial ships in international waters, alongside demands that Iran end its nuclear program or hand over its enriched uranium.

This week, more Iranian officials issued renewed threats to the United States and Israel amid strikes that were carried out by the U.S. military earlier this week in the Persian Gulf. The new strikes targeted Iranian missile sites and boats.

Amid the ceasefire, the U.S. military has imposed a blockade on Iranian ports. As of Wednesday morning, 109 commercial vessels traveling to and from Iran have been redirected as part of the blockade, said the military.

Iran’s current top leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, who hasn’t been seen in public since he was named to the top position in March, made threats to both nations in a series of posts.

“The United States will no longer have a safe haven for its mischief and for establishing military bases in West Asia,” Khamenei wrote in a post on Tuesday, adding in another post that Israel and its government are “approaching the final stages of their wretched existence.”

Meanwhile, the head of the Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps air force, Seyed Majid Moosavi, accused the United States of violating a more than month-long ceasefire by launching strikes. The U.S. military command in charge of the Middle East said the strikes, which occurred on Memorial Day, were defensive in nature.

The regime’s air force is prepared to respond and to implement measures ordered by Iran’s leadership, he wrote on X, according to a translation.

Reuters contributed to this report.