President Donald Trump said Wednesday that a U.S.-Iran agreement could be signed shortly, but he also warned it was not final and U.S. attacks could resume if Iran fails to comply.
Speaking before leaving the G7 summit in Evian, France, Trump said the agreement reached Sunday was designed to end the current conflict, reopen the Strait of Hormuz and prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
“This meeting could not have come at a better time,” Trump said.
Trump said he hoped the agreement would become the start of a broader Middle East deal. “We’re very close,” he said.
Trump said technical talks on removing enriched material stockpiles would begin immediately. He said any relief for Iran under the agreement would depend on merit and would not come from U.S. funds.
A 14-point draft memorandum reviewed by Reuters says Iran and the United States would commit to reaching a final agreement within 60 days, with the period extendable by mutual consent.
The draft says Iran would never produce nuclear weapons and that the fate of enriched material and other nuclear issues would be addressed in a final agreement.
The draft also calls for an immediate and permanent end to military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon, and includes a plan to ensure at least $300 billion for Iran’s rehabilitation and economic development.
Trump later rejected media reports that Iran could receive access to a $300 billion reconstruction fund as part of the agreement.
“We don’t give them money. We don’t give them any of that.” — President Donald Trump
Trump said future talks would include Gulf nations and would cover non-nuclear issues, including Iran’s conventional ballistic missiles. He said Iran would still need some missiles because other countries have them, adding that advisers had urged him to block Iran from having any missiles.
“It doesn’t work that way,” Trump said.
Trump also reviewed U.S. relations with Iran, including the 2020 strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani. He criticized the Obama-era Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, calling it “a road to a nuclear weapon.”
Trump also spoke about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom he called “a good man,” while saying Netanyahu gets “a little excited sometimes.”
Netanyahu could use “a little softer touch,” Trump said, adding, “You don’t have to knock down a building every time someone walks into it that’s from Hezbollah.”
Trump said the agreement could be signed shortly, possibly before a planned Friday signing in Switzerland. But he also said the deal was “not final.”
“If they don’t behave, we’ll go right back to dropping bombs right smack in the middle of their head, OK?” Trump said.
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