Trump says ‘fools who think I haven’t been tough enough on Iran’ are ‘jealous or stupid’ after signing widely-criticised deal

Donald Trump has responded to critics who say he is not being tough enough on Iran after signing a peace deal aimed at ending the war and reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

The US President used the Truth Social platform this morning after some US lawmakers and politicians warned that the US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding does not curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions and does not leave Tehran with a strategic advantage over the Strait of Hormuz.

‘These idiots who think I’m not being tough enough on Iran when the stock market hits a record high and oil prices ‘fall’ are either jealous, bad people or idiots. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!! wrote the American leader, President DJT.

The agreement, which “entered into force immediately” last night, also includes a plan for the “reconstruction” of Iran and for the US to end “all kinds of sanctions” against Tehran.

However, the issue of Iran’s nuclear program, which was the main reason for Trump to take military action in February, will remain under negotiation for another 60 days.

Trump said the peace deal would prevent “economic disaster” but threatened to “bomb” Iran if a final deal was not reached.

Part of the agreement includes Iran making arrangements to allow traffic to begin flowing through the Strait of Hormuz ‘immediately’.

Negotiations have been shrouded in secrecy and confusion for days. U.S. officials have refused to disclose the terms, although they said Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance digitally signed the terms over the weekend.

Trump signed a physical copy while dining with French President Emmanuel Macron in Versailles on Wednesday.

Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian holds the document showing the memorandum of understanding he signed to end the Middle East war

Trump signed a physical copy on Wednesday while dining with French President Emmanuel Macron at Versailles, the palace where many historic agreements that ended wars or territorial disputes over the centuries were signed.

“This is signed,” Trump said as he left dinner in Versailles following his visit to the Group of Seven summit in France.

In a video posted online by a White House aide, Trump is seen signing a printed copy of the agreement at a table next to Macron.

Trump then handed the document and pen to Secretary of State Marco Rubio to the applause of those in the room.

“This was not easy,” Trump said just before signing the agreement, according to the video Macron shared on social media.

Oil prices fell more than 3 percent after the agreement was signed.

Senior figures in the US disagreed on the agreement.

Republican senator Lindsay Graham, one of Trump’s most important allies, softened his view on the memorandum after his “very long and productive” meeting with US special envoy Steve Witkoff.

Graham wrote on social media: ‘After this discussion, I believe that signing the Memorandum of Understanding will be beneficial to the United States in terms of starting to open the Strait of Hormuz and ending hostilities with Iran.’

However, Senator Ted Cruz claimed that Trump received ‘very bad advice’ when it came to the deal, while Senator Bill Cassidy said:Reagan is turning in his grave.’

He added: ‘Iran’s nuclear ambitions have not been restrained and they have learned that threatening the Strait of Hormuz works and will undoubtedly benefit from it in the future.’

Susan Rice, a former official in the Obama and Biden administrations, called it “the biggest national security mistake in decades.”

Reaction to the agreement in Israel has been largely negative; senior officials questioned how seriously Iran would approach negotiations on its nuclear program after the United States relieved economic and military pressure.

Moreover, Netanyahu’s government was not shown the memorandum of understanding to end the war, an Israeli government official told NBC News.

Yair Lapid, leader of the Israeli opposition, said: ‘Netanyahu promised us a historic victory – and we face a crisis with the Americans, Hormuz is open to the Iranians, money for the Revolutionary Guard, ballistic missiles targeting Israel and Israel waiting in the corridor like a scolded child.’

The US President appeared on the Truth Social platform this morning after some US lawmakers warned that the US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding does not thwart Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

However, some in Israel had a more positive outlook; Danny Citrinowicz, the former head of the Iran branch of Israeli military intelligence, said the agreement showed that reality had “finally returned to US policy towards Iran”.

“Before events got completely out of control, the US administration stepped back from maximalist goals and turned to a more measured and realistic approach,” Citrinowicz said on Wednesday. he said.

In Tehran, stone-faced President Masoud Pezeshkian signed the agreement on Iran’s behalf, according to the state-run IRNA news agency, which released footage showing Pezeshkian holding on to the agreement with his and Trump’s signatures.

Earlier this week, Iran’s parliamentary speaker and chief negotiator, Mohammed Bagher Galibaf, warned that his country’s finger was on the trigger.

“If the enemy does not understand the language of logic, we will enter with the language of force,” he told state broadcaster Fars.

The text of the agreement has not yet been officially published. After days of secrecy, U.S. officials dictated the draft language to reporters who spoke on condition of anonymity. Iranian state television later broadcast a text that largely followed what the US said.

Much of the agreement would restore the status quo before the war, including an end to hostilities, the resumption of talks between the United States and Iran over Tehran’s nuclear program, and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the critical chokepoint for the world’s oil and gas whose closure led to a historic energy crisis.

According to drafts from both countries, the agreement opens the strait without tolls for two months but does not prevent future fees.

In return, the United States will waive, but will not eliminate, some broad sanctions against Iran.

Closing the strait has increased energy prices worldwide and caused many basic needs, including food, to become more expensive.

Iran allowed some ships that paid tolls to pass through the strait, which has long been considered an international waterway, something that has never been done before.

The US later provided military support to dislodge other tankers, but traffic was nowhere near pre-war levels.

The agreement also states that the US will lift the blockade of Iranian ports and the strait will return to pre-war traffic levels within 30 days, while it is also acknowledged that Iranian mines may need to be destroyed.

The agreement also confirms commitment to Lebanon’s territorial integrity in the face of Israel’s invasion of the Hezbollah militant group.

This is one of the most sensitive parts of the agreement because Israel has maintained that it will continue to defend itself and occupy large areas of Lebanon.

Iran has said Israel must withdraw under the agreement, a condition Israel has already rejected.

Speaking at the G7 summit on Tuesday, Trump called Netanyahu “crazy” and openly criticized Israel’s attacks on Lebanon.

‘Too many people have been killed,’ Trump said. ​’You don’t need to tear down an apartment building every time you search for them, because there are too many people in those apartments and not all of them are Hezbollah.’

The United States and Israel went to war on February 28 in part to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

Trump has at times hinted at a variety of war-related goals, including vowing to end Iran’s nuclear and missile programs and its support for Hezbollah and other proxy groups in the region. He also suggested that this could lead to the overthrow of the Iranian government.

The interim agreement falls short of all those goals, but Trump on Wednesday hailed the deal as “very strong.”

He also opened the door to walking away from it: ‘It’s a memorandum of understanding and if I don’t like it, we’ll go back to shooting at them, bombing them.’

The US agreement to allow Iran to immediately sell its oil freely and the offer to eventually lift all sanctions represent major concessions that go beyond the terms of Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

The agreement opens the Strait of Hormuz without tolls for two months, but does not prevent future fees.

Trump with Macron at Chateau de Versailles before signing the agreement

During his first term, Trump withdrew America from the Obama-era deal, declaring it the ‘worst deal ever’.

Iran maintains that its nuclear program is peaceful, but Iran is the only country that enriches uranium to 60 percent purity without a weapons program, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The interim agreement calls for the IAEA to monitor the ‘down-blending’ of uranium in Iran, without going into detail.

The deal is likely to face intense opposition in Washington and appears to be a major setback for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has faced criticism from the domestic media, his opponents and even some allies as details emerge.

Under the nuclear deal that Trump withdrew from during the Obama administration with Iran, Iran also accepted restrictions on its nuclear program and promised to never build atomic weapons in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.

According to Pakistani officials, some concessions to Iran, including the complete lifting of sanctions and the release of frozen assets, will be made gradually and will be linked to progress in nuclear negotiations.

But in the meantime, the United States will waive sanctions that allow Iran to sell oil freely.