Trump says Iran ‘will never have a nuclear weapon’ and that deal is ‘going to second stage’ – Middle East crisis live | Iran
Trump says Iran will ‘never have a nuclear weapon’ and if it tries to get a nuclear weapon it will ‘rain doom’
In his comments to journalists, Donald Trump also warned that “doom will rain down” on Iran if it tries to obtain nuclear weapons.
“The only thing that really matters to me is that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon, and he says that loud and clear,” he said, referring to the agreement with Tehran.
As my colleague Graham Russell points out in this helpful commentary, Iran has long maintained that its nuclear program is peaceful and has made no public commitment to give up enriched uranium, which is believed to be buried beneath three nuclear facilities badly damaged by US strikes last year.
Trump faces significant political pressure to reach a better deal on this issue than the one he vacated in his first term. He withdrew the United States from the 2015 multilateral Iran deal negotiated by Barack Obama, which lifted sanctions on Tehran in exchange for limits on its nuclear program, including international inspections.
Iran responded by accelerating its uranium enrichment, producing more than 400 kg of material with near-bomb-grade purity. The ultimate fate of this uranium will likely be a key negotiating point during the upcoming large-scale negotiations.
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“I think it’s going to move pretty quickly,” Trump told reporters about the next phase of talks with Iran, which is projected for a 60-day period.
“Iran wants to get this done. They need to get back to work and relations are back to normal now, so it’s going to move pretty quickly,” Trump told reporters during a meeting with United Arab Emirates President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on the sidelines of the G7.
“It could go faster, it could take longer, but it could also go faster.”
Speaking at the G7, US President Donald Trump said that the Strait of Hormuz will be opened by Friday and the full text of the peace agreement will be published “in the official environment”.
Trump also said he expects “phase two” of the deal to “move quickly.”
He added that the main result of the MoU was that Iran “never has nuclear weapons” and that he would discuss the agreement with the media “in a few days”.
Iranian oil tankers resumed shipping after US deal, Iranian state media said
Iranian oil tankers and other ships have resumed shipping following an agreement with Washington that appears to ease the US naval blockade, Iranian state television said.
“Three Iranian oil tankers are currently sailing in the northern Indian Ocean, and two other tankers carrying essential goods and animal feed are en route to southern ports,” said a state television correspondent from an area in the Strait of Hormuz.
He added that “the operation to lift the naval blockade has been implemented,” referring to the measure implemented by the United States since April.
Here are some of the latest images sent to us via news channels from Lebanon, where some people displaced by Israel’s attack on the country are cautiously heading home after the first news of the US-Iran deal:
Qatar, an important mediator between the United States and Iran, said it believes the framework peace agreement can provide security to the Middle East.
“We are cautiously optimistic that the signing of the memorandum of understanding will lead to the next phase of regional security through talks on the nuclear program and other issues,” foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari told reporters in Doha, while praising Pakistan’s mediation efforts. he said.
“We are now on the right track towards regional security. Frankly, there are many challenges ahead, But let’s use this as a moment to enjoy some optimismhe said.
“We are talking about various issues: the Strait of Hormuz, regional security and non-aggression, good neighborly relations between this region and Iran.”
“Of course we are talking about: other issues besides the nuclear program Proxies, missiles and other issues that have been prominent in the region for decades. These won’t be resolved in a few days.”
According to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA), Lebanon’s president Joseph Aoun and the country’s prime minister Nawaf Salam stressed the need for a permanent ceasefire in Lebanon, the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from the southern territories, the return of Lebanese prisoners and the deployment of the Lebanese army to “internationally recognized borders.”
Aoun and Salam called the US-Iran memorandum of understanding a “positive step” towards reducing tensions across the region.
According to NNA, the meeting at Baabda Palace also discussed “preparations” for the next round of negotiations between Israel and Lebanon, which will be held in Washington next week. Hezbollah is not a party to these negotiations.
The militant group, which has been financed and backed by Iran for decades, welcomed the US-Iran deal but warned that it would not accept any attack that violated Lebanon’s sovereignty or targeted its people.
Trump says Iran now has “rational” leadership due to US-Israeli attacks on Iran that killed senior figures. This is not true because Iran’s powerful conservatives are gaining strength from a three-month conflict that they think Tehran has won.
Despite his obvious resentment towards Netanyahu, Trump said his relationship with the Israeli leader was “very effective.” He said their relationship was “incredible” but stressed that Israel could not exist without his support.
The US president said Lebanon was “treated the worst” of “all countries” because they “couldn’t defend themselves” and had to deal with Hezbollah, and that this was “a problem for them”.
Trump told reporters:
No, I am not happy with Israel’s attitude towards Lebanon and Hezbollah. They should have been able to do the job faster. This goes on forever, and when it happens it casts a negative light on the big deal – which is the deal with Iran..
Trump thinks Syria will do a better job of ‘dealing with Hezbollah’ than Israel
In unusually outspoken statements, Trump appears to acknowledge the fact that Israel has killed scores of civilians in Lebanon attacks that it claims were aimed solely at Hezbollah. He told reporters:
Israel fought Hezbollah for too long and too many people are being killed. And you don’t need to tear down an apartment building every time you search for one. because there are so many people in these apartments and not all of them are HezbollahI can tell you this.
And I suggested to Israel that they let Syria deal with Hezbollah because, honestly, I think they would do it better..
Shortly before signing the deal with Iran, Trump said he “didn’t like” Israel attacking Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, rather than the “south bank.” “I let them know about it. I didn’t like it at all,” Trump said.
Referring to Syrian President Ahmed al-Shara, with whom he has good relations, Trump said, “If Israel can’t do the job without killing everyone, it will do the job, Syria will do the job.”
During the civil war that broke out in Syria in 2011, Hezbollah sent thousands of its fighters to help Bashar al-Assad remain in power. They remained there until Sharaa’s Islamist rebel forces overthrew the long-time ruler in December 2024. Sharaa is the former leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the rebel group that led the military operation to oust Assad.
Trump said Sharaa “was on very good terms with Hezbollah” and “didn’t like them.” “He has been very good to me. He has protected everything I wanted,” he said, referring to Sharaa.
Trump says Netanyahu should be ‘more responsible on Lebanon’
Trump also said he had a “great relationship” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but “he needs to be more responsible on Lebanon.”
“If it wasn’t for me, there would be no Israel because no other president was willing to do what I did,” he told reporters.
Trump says he sees Israel’s war in Lebanon as a ‘small’ war
Donald Trump also said that he sees Israel’s war against Lebanon as a “small” war and believes that the agreement reached with Iran can survive even if Israeli attacks continue.
“I see this as a little war,” Trump said. “Iran is the biggest, but there is a little pinprick out there that keeps rearing its head, and that is Hezbollah.”
Iran disagrees with Trump’s assessment, increasingly arguing that Israel’s continued attacks in Lebanon would violate its agreement with the United States, and in this context seeks to characterize the United States and Israel as a single entity.
Trump says Iran will ‘never have a nuclear weapon’ and if it tries to get a nuclear weapon it will ‘rain doom’
In his comments to journalists, Donald Trump also warned that “doom will rain down” on Iran if it tries to obtain nuclear weapons.
“The only thing that really matters to me is that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon, and he says that loud and clear,” he said, referring to the agreement with Tehran.
As my colleague Graham Russell points out in this helpful commentary, Iran has long maintained that its nuclear program is peaceful and has made no public commitment to give up enriched uranium, which is believed to be buried beneath three nuclear facilities badly damaged by US strikes last year.
Trump faces significant political pressure to reach a better deal on this issue than the one he vacated during his first term. He withdrew the United States from the 2015 multilateral Iran deal negotiated by Barack Obama, which lifted sanctions on Tehran in exchange for limits on its nuclear program, including international inspections.
Iran responded by increasing its uranium enrichment, producing more than 400 kg of material with near-bomb-grade purity. The ultimate fate of this uranium will likely be a key negotiating point during the upcoming large-scale talks.
Trump says US-Iran deal will move to ‘phase two’
We received some comments from Donald Trump, who spoke to reporters at the G7 summit.
According to Reuters news agency, the US president said that the agreement reached with Iran has entered the “second phase” and that Washington does not make any investments in Iran within the scope of the agreement.
“We have made our agreement with Iran and it should be successful, we will move on to the second phase, which I think will actually be easier,” he told reporters.
