Trump Signals Imminent Iran Deal, Urges 'Softer' Israel Approach in Lebanon
U.S. President Donald Trump announced that a deal with Tehran will be signed “shortly,” calling on Israel to take a “softer” approach regarding Lebanon.
Addressing the G7 summit in France on Wednesday, Trump said that the agreement with Iran, announced acronyms earlier this week, could be signed on Thursday or Friday in Switzerland. “We are going to most likely sign a deal,” he stated.
Trump Warns U.S. Will Resume Iran Airstrikes If Deal Fails
Trump warned that the U.S. would resume airstrikes against Iran if Tehran fails to “honor” both the written and unwritten terms of their diplomatic agreement.
“It's a memorandum of understanding. If it doesn't get done in 60 days, it's all right, we go back to bombing,” he noted.
“If we didn’t do this deal, we could have dropped more bombs for another three weeks, two weeks, four weeks, two years, you know, you would never have the Hormuz strait open, you would never have success,” he added.
The president highlighted that shipping volume in the Strait of Hormuz has already experienced a major increase due to the political accord.
He dismissed claims that Washington is willing to provide a reconstruction fund worth $300bn as part of the agreement, stating, “We don't give them any of that.”
Trump Shares Iran Deal Copy with Israel, Urges Restraint in Lebanon
Trump has stated earlier that the text of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Iran will be released publicly, and today at the summit he confirmed that they sent “a copy” of the deal to Israel.
He described Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a man who "gets a little excited sometimes," while publicly calling for a shift toward a "softer" approach in Lebanon.
“They could do a much better job,” he said, emphasizing that, “I'm not saying they [Israel] shouldn't protect themselves, I'm saying — when two drones are shot into the desert and dropped harmlessly, you don't have to knock down buildings in Beirut.”
Iran has made a Lebanese ceasefire and Israeli military withdrawal from southern Lebanon key conditions for a regional truce.
“The Lebanon peace is something we’ll have to work on a little bit,” Trump confirmed.
3 hours ago