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The US president told the G7 that he would ‘go back to bombing’ if a full agreement was not struck within 60 days
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Donald Trump is already facing criticism from his Republican base over plans to end the war with Iran after releasing details of the interim 14-point agreement signed on Wednesday.
The president inked the early-stage deal during his tour of the Versailles Palace in France after threatening to resume attacks and kill Iranian officials if they failed to honour their commitments.
The terms included stopping the conflict and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, but also controversially outlined the financing of Iran’s recovery, sanctions relief and the release of frozen funds.
Louisiana senator Bill Cassidy was among Republicans critical of the deal, saying on Wednesday that “Reagan is rolling over in his grave” and describing the MoU as “the worst foreign policy blunder in decades”.
Mike Pence, who was Trump’s vice president during his first term, acknowledged the Memorandum of Understanding “does smack of the kind of appeasement that our administration rejected in the Obama-Iran nuclear deal”.
Iran’s top negotiator, Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf, boasted meanwhile that “everything we sought to achieve through military action, we obtained several times over through negotiation”, adding “it was not even comparable”.
The Israeli military said on Thursday that its forces were operating in a security zone extending about 10 km (6 miles) into southern Lebanon, despite a provision in the interim U.S.-Iran agreement calling for an immediate halt to military operations in Lebanon.
The military said the deployment was dictated by operational needs and that troops remained stationed in their designated area of operations.
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth tells reporters in Brussels that if Iran does not fulfill its commitments, the US will be prepared to “recommence”.
If Iran does not give up nuclear ambitions and material, the war department is “here and prepared to restart if we need to”, he says.
He adds that the US is “more than able to reimpose an ironclad blockade” – but would rather continue down the diplomatic route.
He says the Iran deal came from a US position of strength and that they will be “the big stick behind the negotiations”.
Any changes to the US troop presence in the region will be “conditions-based”, he reveals.
The US and Iran released the text of an interim agreement their presidents have signed to end their war on Wednesday – as Donald Trump threatened to resume attacks and kill Iranian officials if they failed to honour their commitments.
Trump, attending the G7 with other leaders in France, also withdrew at least one of his stated rationales for attacking Iran in the first place, saying it would be “unfair” for Tehran not to have ballistic missiles, having previously vowed to obliterate them.
“We’re going to bomb the hell out of them if they violate the agreement,” Trump said of Iran at a press conference. “I don’t want them to. I want them to honor the agreement.”
Earlier, he had said: “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, OK?”
Iran’s lead negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf hailed the agreement in comments to state TV.
“Everything we sought to achieve through military action, we obtained several times over through negotiation; it was not even comparable,” he said.
Oil prices fell again on Thursday after the United States and Iran signed their interim agreement to end the war.
Brent crude was down 1.58 per cent to $76.07 per barrel, continuing a steady downward trend correlating with optimism around the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
Global stocks were torn, meanwhile, between concern about the rising chances of a US rate hike this year and optimism over the situation in Iran.
In Europe, the STOXX 600 fell 0.5%, as declines in energy shares like Shell and BP offset gains in tech stocks like ASML, Infineon and AI-exposed industrial group Schneider Electric.
Europe is more vulnerable to an increase in inflation from higher oil prices than the United States and so falling oil prices are good for European economies, but the weight of energy shares on various national markets kept the pan-regional index slightly in the red.
Switzerland on Thursday said that initial talks between the US and Iran are planned at the Buergenstock mountaintop resort in Switzerland on Friday, following the signing of a ceasefire agreement.
In a statement, the Swiss foreign ministry said that as things stand, the plan is still for the U.S. and Iran, and mediators Pakistan and Qatar, to meet tomorrow at Buergenstock for initial negotiations about implementing the agreement.
It comes after Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei cast doubt on this, telling IRIB’s News Network that, because the two presidents had already signed on Wednesday, “No signing ceremony will be held in Switzerland.”
Israel is holding negotiations with the U.S. as it seeks to continue its deployment of troops in southern Lebanon, two Israeli officials said on Thursday.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive talks, made the comments a day after the U.S. and Iran signed an interim pact that calls for parties to ensure “the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Lebanon.”
A senior Israeli official close to Israel’s Netanyahu told Reuters that Israel was “conducting stubborn negotiations” with Washington over continuing its deployment of troops in southern Lebanon.
The official said Israel would not back down on its positions, including keeping troops deployed in the area south of Lebanon’s Litani River.
A second Israeli official told Reuters that the outcome of the talks would ultimately depend on whether U.S. President Donald Trump “decides to force the issue” by threatening repercussions if Israel does not abide by the interim Iran pact’s terms.
President Donald Trump on Wednesday touted what he called a “historic” agreement with Iran while joking that if the deal falters he will pin the blame on Vice President J.D. Vance.
Speaking at a press conference at the end of the G7 summit in France, Trump defended the memorandum of understanding with Tehran, saying it would end the current conflict, reopen the Strait of Hormuz and “prevent Iran from ever obtaining a nuclear weapon.”
But when asked why he wouldn’t stick around Europe for a signing ceremony set for Friday in Switzerland, the president quipped that he was letting the vice president go in his stead in case the deal goes south.
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