Trump Inks Iran “Deal”

By Alex Miller

On Background:  February 2026:  Iran’s old regime is crumbling, worn down by massive internal popular protests, decades of severe international sanctions, an embargo on selling oil, and dire economic/financial stress, due in part to billions in frozen assets.

June 2026:  Iran has a new, younger, more radical leadership, lifted sanctions, restored assets to the value of $125 billion, empowered to sell oil on the global market, with $300 billion in economic development funds, guaranteed by the US, a status quo agreement for their nuclear program to continue, and the prospect of collecting transit fees for the previously free Strait of Hormuz.

What happened in the intervening period to create this momentous change?  Why, Donald Trump’s devastating war of conquest on Iran, of course, demanding unconditional surrender.  The wily US Commander-in-Chief, however, failed to specify whose unconditional surrender was in the offing.

On Wednesday, 17 June 2026, Donald Trump signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Iran’s government, in Versailles, France, while attending the G7 conference, effectively conceding defeat.  After weeks of intense bombing, alternating social media threats and blandishments, a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz which had already been closed by Iran, a global energy crisis spiking gas and oil prices, and an estimated cost to the US taxpayer of $132 billion, the US came away from the negotiating table with little more than a restoration of shipping in the Strait, which was open before the war, and a vague promise to revisit the nuclear development program somewhere down the line.

Perhaps it’s time for a revised edition of Trump’s “The Art of the Deal,” with a forward by Iranian mullahs.

The Lede:  The underpinning energy of the moment is the forming conjunction of Mercury (20 Cancer), ruling negotiations, discussions, agreements, treaties and signings, with Jupiter (27 Cancer), ruling foreign relations and international trade.  Mercury exactly opposes asteroid Nemesis (20 Capricorn), indicating it is adversaries, opponents, or enemies at the table.

In Brief:  The meat of the story is Saturn’s (13 Aries) square (90 degrees, stress, conflict) to the US natal Sun (13 Cancer), exact this week as the memorandum was released.  Saturn in such a configuration is “reality check” time, as real-world conditions countermand wishful thinking, and unrealistic appraisals evaporate in the harsh light of day. 

Saturn brings hardship, deprivation, restriction, diminution, loss and failure.  And the US has been diminished on the world stage, without doubt.  Americans have already been participating in the “hardship” part of the equation as Saturn neared exactitude, with more than $59 billion in increased gasoline and diesel costs for consumers since the war began, disrupting global supply lines and playing havoc with household budgets, already besieged by increased costs from Trump’s tariff wars.    

The administration begged patience for the temporary economic stress, as it fumbled for a rationale for the war it hadn’t bothered to explain, seek congressional authorization for, or rally allies to its cause, and finally settled on preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, only to agree to the status quo in that program in the MOU.  Total destruction of Iran’s military and naval capacity, its ability to threaten its neighbors, was also given as justification, but its naval control remains sufficient for it to close the Strait of Hormuz with mines, and it still regularly fires missiles or directs armed drones at its regional enemies.  Regime change was another proffered reason for the conflict, and that has, in fact, been attained – the new regime is much more hardline and radical than the old one.

Deep Dive:  The basic set-up for the signing involves the Sun (26 Gemini) conjoined asteroid Versailles (1 Cancer), where the signing took place, opposed (180 degrees)  asteroid Irani (27 Sagittarius), for the Iranians, in a T-Square (1) with asteroid Pax (22 Virgo), named for the Latin word for “peace,” establishing a focus (Sun) on the venue (Versailles), the victors (Irani) and the ostensible result (Pax).

A second T-Square pertains, of Venus (4 Leo) opposed Pluto (5 Aquarius) with asteroid Whitehouse (2 Aquarius), and asteroid NOT on the fulcrum (1 Taurus).  Venus points to economic concerns and money matters generally, and also rules diplomats; Pluto governs vast sums of money (ruling the billions) and devastating outcomes; Whitehouse refers to the US President and administration; and NOT is a general disqualifier or symbol of negation.  The “vast sums” element is apparent, with Iran reaping almost half a trillion in economic rewards.  The “devastating outcome” element is viewed, of course, from the US perspective; Pluto also rules regeneration and rebirth, which will be Iran’s cut of the pie, as seen in the $300 billion economic revitalization package included in the MOU.  The Whitehouse/NOT/Venus portion of the pattern seems to symbolize the “diplomats (Venus) who weren’t (NOT),” the individuals chosen by the administration (Whitehouse) to conduct the principal negotiations.  These are Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, both real estate magnates with no foundation, grounding, training or experience in such high-stakes issues as nuclear weapons capacity or international armed conflict.

Donald Trump putting a period on the war he singlehandedly foisted on the US is symbolized by Mars (21 Taurus), ruler of war, squared asteroids Donn (18 Leo), for Trump, Washingtonia (16 Leo), for the US government, and Fini (25 Leo), literally meaning “the end.”  The cosmos may provide a clue to how Trump will try to spin this disastrous outcome, in a T-Square with asteroid Nike (15 Scorpio), named for the Greek goddess of victory, suggesting he’ll declare victory, take his missiles and fleets, and go home. 

Well, he can try.

Notes:  (1) A T-Square is a dynamic pattern composed of two or more planets in opposition (180 degrees), each squared (90 degrees) a third.  It represents stress and conflict, with the fulcrum point (at the square) offering a possibility of resolution.

Sources:  reporting from MS NOW, NPR; chart data from serennu.com.

Title Image Credit:  drawn by Chat GPT