Trump: World will ‘find out pretty soon’ if Iran MOU signing will happen
Trump suggests deal signing on Friday could still fall through, vows to bomb Iran if they don’t ‘behave’. United States President Donald Trump has suggested
Trump suggests deal signing on Friday could still fall through, vows to bomb Iran if they don’t ‘behave’. United States President Donald Trump has suggested that the signing of a memorandum of understanding beginning the process of ending the US-Israeli war with Iran could still fall through. Speaking to reporters from the Group of Seven (G7) Summit in Evian, France on Wednesday, Trump was non-committal when asked how confident he was that the signing planned for Friday would proceed. In various statements throughout the day, Trump said Washington would resume bombing if Iran does not “behave”. “Deals are amazing. I’ve done them all my life,” Trump said during a news conference with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “I’ve gone into deals that were 100 percent and they don’t happen. I’ve gone into deals that there was no chance of getting them done, and it happens, and they happen easily.” “So, you never know with deals, do you? But you’re going to find out pretty soon,” Trump said. “I think it will be done”. Shortly after, speaking during a separate speech, Trump suggested the signing could happen sooner than previously announced, “tomorrow [Thursday], maybe the next day”, he said. Trump and his top officials have sent mixed signals about the finality of the MOU, which both the US and Iran have said will end fighting on all fronts, lift the US naval blockade, and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Both sides have also been in agreement in saying that the initial deal will only serve as a launch point for 60 days of negotiations on more entrenched issues, including the future of Iran’s nuclear programme, its support for proxies in the region, and future administration of the Strait of Hormuz.
US officials have maintained that the MOU was already digitally signed on Sunday, suggesting the deal’s terms were not subject to change. While neither side has released those official terms, a senior US official read the 14 points on a call with reporters. The official said that while the MOU was electronically signed on Sunday, both sides were still free to walk away until the final signing on Friday. The US official said beyond reopening the Strait of Hormuz and lifting the US naval blockade on Iranian ports, the US would immediately issue sanctions waivers for Iran’s fossil fuel industry. The MOU includes few commitments related to Iran’s nuclear programme, restating Iran’s long-held position that it will not seek a nuclear weapon while saying that both countries would maintain their current “status quo”, the official said. Negotiations on Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium and the future of its nuclear programme would take place during the 60-day period, it said. The MOU also notably said the US and its regional partners will develop a “mutually agreed plan with at least USD 300 billion for the reconstruction and economic development of the Islamic Republic of Iran for Iran’s reconstruction”. The full removal of Iranian sanctions and the unfreezing of billions of dollars in Iranian assets would proceed on an unspecified schedule following the signing of the deal. Asked about the $300bn reconstruction plan on Friday, Trump said it would only proceed “if they’re [Iran] doing things right”. Trump also drew a distinction between unfreezing Iran’s assets and giving them money outright. “We have taken a lot of their money, and we have their money … It’s not our money, it’s their money, and we froze it at a certain point in time,” he said.
The BriefWire