President Trump on Wednesday issued a fiery defense of his deal with Iran, lashing out at critics who have said the agreement achieves even less than the one President Barack Obama negotiated, and threatening to bomb Iran again if it doesn’t adhere to the agreement.
Appearing at the Group of 7 summit of global leaders in Évian-les-Bains, France, Mr. Trump denied that the United States was, in effect, paying Iran to agree to the recently negotiated peace deal. And in an expletive-laden rant, he proclaimed that his deal was better than the one Mr. Obama signed with Tehran in 2015.
“And you know what the Iranians did? They laughed at Obama, and they said, ‘He’s a stupid son of a bitch,’” Mr. Trump said.
A spokeswoman for Mr. Obama said he would not be commenting on Wednesday, but referred to his remarks from an interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America” over the weekend. In it, he said that he doubted that the new deal would be “significantly different or a significant improvement” from the one his administration negotiated. He said that it was a reminder that the United States cannot just “bully our way or bomb our way to solutions.”
Mr. Trump’s remarks came as a senior U.S. official disclosed what the official said was the full text of the deal. The official read it aloud on a conference call with reporters on Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House.
The deal would, among other things, reopen the Strait of Hormuz, outline a $300 billon plan for Iran’s reconstruction and at least temporarily lift restrictions on the country’s oil exports, according to the official. But it would push talks about Iran’s nuclear program — the central reason given for the U.S.-Israeli attacks that began in February — into a 60-day negotiation period.
Mr. Trump had denied reports that the deal included U.S. investment in the reconstruction fund or any immediate sanctions relief, two of the points that have drawn the most attention. But the $300 billion fund it outlines could provide Iran with much more money than the deal Mr. Obama negotiated.
The deal says the United States will work with regional partners to “develop a definitive, mutually agreed plan with at least” $300 billion for the reconstruction and economic development of Iran. The fund will go into effect once a final deal is reached within 60 days, the agreement states.
Mr. Trump left open the possibility that Persian Gulf states could provide the money for the fund. The issue is a fraught one for Mr. Trump, who has railed against Mr. Obama for providing $1.7 billion in cash to Iran after the nuclear agreement was signed.
Mr. Trump said on Wednesday that the U.S. military had so badly damaged Iran during the war that the country needed help. “Unlike Barack Hussein Obama, who sent Iran pallets of cash, any relief they receive under this deal, they’ll have to get based on merit — and it won’t be from us,” he said. “We don’t have to give them anything. But some people may want to invest.”
A diplomat said that work on the fund was already underway.
Commitments amounting to half of the $300 billion figure have already been made, including from companies in the United States, the Middle East, Asia, South America and Africa, said the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive negotiations.
The fund would be a conduit for private investment, not a reconstruction or reparations program, the diplomat said. Details about the funding pledges were initially reported by Reuters.
Mr. Trump and Vice President JD Vance have already electronically signed a framework agreement on the deal, along with the speaker of Iran’s Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who led that country’s negotiating team, a senior U.S. official said. American and Iranian leaders are expected to formally sign the agreement in Switzerland.
Once the agreement is formally signed, the United States will issue waivers allowing Iran to export its crude oil. Critics have said that relief for the Iranian oil industry rewards Tehran merely for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, the critical oil shipping route that was open before Iran effectively closed it at the start of the war.
The agreement also says the United States will lift sanctions on Iran “in an agreed-upon schedule as part of the final deal” that the two sides would negotiate within 60 days. Relief from crushing economic sanctions may be the only thing that can persuade Iran to surrender its nuclear program. The 2015 Iran nuclear deal brokered by Mr. Obama traded sanctions relief for strict caps on Tehran’s nuclear activity.
The new deal calls on Iran to allow commercial ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz safely and “with no charge for 60 days only.” After that, it indicates, Iran and Oman will work out a deal to administer ship traffic in the strait in consultation with other Gulf nations. Mr. Trump has said the passageway must be “permanently toll-free.” But Iran has said it plans to charge “fees” in exchange for unspecified “services” it provides there.
The deal also seeks to end the war between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia in Lebanon, by committing the United States, Iran and their allies to immediately stopping military operations on “all fronts, including in Lebanon.” Neither Israel nor Hezbollah have signed on to the deal, and both have indicated that they will not be bound by it.
Israel has said it has no plans to withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon, and it reported more attacks by Hezbollah on Israeli soldiers there on Wednesday. The group has fired rockets and drones into Israel.
At the G7 summit on Wednesday, Mr. Trump admonished Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel over the Israeli military campaign against Hezbollah, saying he “gets a little excited sometimes.”
“I’m not saying they shouldn’t protect themselves,” Mr. Trump said of the Israelis. “I’m saying when two drones are shot into the desert and drop harmlessly, you don’t have to knock down buildings in Beirut.” He added, “They could behave better, and, frankly, they could do a better job.”
Mr. Trump also said that the United States would work on a “parallel effort with Gulf nations to address nonnuclear issues, such as the conventional ballistic missiles” for Iran.
“They have to have some because other people have some; you’ve got to have some,” Mr. Trump said. “What am I going to do?” he added. “I’m going to let Saudi Arabia have missiles but they can’t have them?”
Some Republicans expressed concerns about the emerging details of the deal. Senator Thom Tillis, Republican of North Carolina, said the 14 points of the agreement made public on Wednesday were “not sufficient for me to say it’s a good deal.”
Mr. Tillis said he and other senators needed to receive “a detailed, secure briefing” from Trump administration officials. “It would be irresponsible of any member to just accept at face value what we know about it,” he said.
Among the harshest critics was Mr. Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence. Asked if, based on what he knew, he thought the Trump administration was making a mistake, Mr. Pence said in an interview with CNN that he thought it was “much bigger than a mistake.”
“These immediate concessions, particularly sanctions waivers right out of the gate, that would essentially be a lifeline to the Iranian regime, I think, is ill-advised,” Mr. Pence said. “We ought to keep the pressure on, keep the blockade on and, if need be, let our armed forces get back to work.”
But Mr. Trump said of the preliminary agreement: “It’s very strong. Most people seem to be very happy.” He added, referring to a surge in stocks in recent days, “Who’s really happy is the market.”
Even so, he warned that he would order more attacks if he decided that Tehran was violating the terms.
“If I don’t like it, if they don’t behave, we’ll go right back to dropping bombs right smack in the middle of their head,” he said while speaking to reporters alongside President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt.
Reporting was contributed by Anton Troianovski, Luke Broadwater, David E. Sanger, Michael Crowley, Tyler Pager, Leo Sands, Jeanna Smialek and Max Bearak.
The post Trump Defends Deal to End the War With Iran as Details Emerge appeared first on New York Times.
