Trump warns Iran deal not final
Evian, June 17
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said a preliminary Memorandum of Understanding with Iran was not final and warned that the United States would resume military action if Tehran failed to meet his expectations, as world leaders gathered for the final day of the G7 Summit in the French resort town of Evian.
At a bilateral meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Trump rejected reports that the understanding with Tehran included immediate sanctions relief or a multibillion-dollar reconstruction fund backed by Gulf countries.
Asked whether the MoU contained "immediate sanctions relief" for Iran, Trump replied: "No."
When pressed again, he added: "They have to behave well."
Trump also dismissed reports that Gulf allies would contribute to a $300 billion investment and reconstruction fund for Iran.
"It's false," Trump said. "You can invest if you want. What am I going to do, say no one is ever allowed to invest? We're not investing, we're not putting up 10 cents and people can decide to do it. That's up to them."
Asked whether he was encouraging Gulf nations to invest in such a fund, Trump responded: "No, I'm not."
"If they do it, fine. But I would say they won't be doing it for a while until they find out the behavior. It's a behaviour thing but we are not investing," he said.
The sharpest remarks came when Trump was asked whether the memorandum was final.
"If I don't like it, we'll go back to shooting at them," he said. "Dropping bombs on their head."
He repeated the warning moments later.
"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 because they misbehaved for 47 years."
Trump then criticised the Obama administration's nuclear agreement with Iran, saying the Iranians "laughed at Obama".
Earlier in the meeting, Trump said he and el-Sisi would discuss trade and the Nile River dispute.
The US President said he was helping Egypt "with a little dam project" and noted that a dam built in Ethiopia was "causing more problems than it should be".
El-Sisi congratulated Trump on what he described as a diplomatic breakthrough with Iran.
"Big congratulations for the breakthrough you've reached Mr. President restoring peace," the Egyptian leader said through an interpreter.
"Once the deal was announced, there has been great appreciation and the admiration has increased," he added, praising Trump's "marvelous management" of the crisis.
The Egyptian President also referred to Trump's prominence during a leaders' dinner the previous evening.
"I observed during the dinner last night that you were surrounded, Mr. President, by all the world leaders. They didn't leave you for a moment to enjoy your dinner," el-Sisi said.
Trump responded by pointing to financial markets, which he said had reacted positively to the agreement.
"Most people seem to be really happy and who's really happy is the market," he said.
The remarks came hours after Trump arrived late for a G7 working session chaired by French President Emmanuel Macron. Entering the meeting room after other leaders had already taken their seats, Trump joked, "I'm the boss."
He then turned to reporters and said: "Would you like to stay for the meeting? It's ok with me," before French officials escorted the press corps from the room.
Trump could also be heard saying: "It's too hot in here."
The working session brought together leaders from the G7 and invited countries, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Later in the day, Trump joined a working lunch on artificial intelligence and the digital age with G7 leaders, senior US officials and technology executives. Participants included OpenAI chief Sam Altman, Google's Demis Hassabis, Anthropic's Dario Amodei, Meta's Alexandr Wang and Sarvam AI co-founder Pratyush Kumar of India.
— IANS
Reader Comments
"Dropping bombs right smack in the middle of their head" - and this man is supposed to be a world leader? Disgusting. Meanwhile, Egypt's dictator is praising him like a king. Modi-ji should focus on India's relations with Iran for Chabahar port, not waste time with this circus.
India has historical ties with Iran - we need stability in the region for our oil imports and connectivity to Central Asia. This unpredictability from US is alarming 😟. At least PM Modi wasn't shown fawning over Trump like el-Sisi.
I don't understand why India is even part of these G7 charades. We should be focusing on BRICS and SCO. Trump threatening to bomb someone while sitting at a summit with world leaders - pure drama! Our foreign policy should remain non-aligned, not get dragged into US adventures.
Trump is right in one sense - Iran has been a destabilizing force for decades. But threatening military action like a movie villain is irresponsible. India needs to play a mediatory role, not take sides. We have over 8 million Indians in the Gulf who would suffer from any conflict.
Interesting that India's Sarvam AI co-founder was at the AI lunch with Trump and Altman. Our tech talent is global now! But on the Iran issue - this is why India should diversify energy sources. Saudi and US can't be trusted. We need more deals with Russia and Venezuela.
We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.