Trump Threatens to Resume Strikes on Iran If Peace Deal With Iran Falls Short
At the G7 summit in France, President Trump warned military strikes against Iran might have to be resumed if the tentative peace agreement fails, as G7 leaders backed the deal calling it a historic opportunity to curb Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
U.S. President Donald Trump issued a bold warning Wednesday at the G7 summit in France. He said if the tentative peace agreement with Iran doesn't hold, American airstrikes will return.
Speaking to reporters alongside the host President Emmanuel Macron, Trump said the memorandum of understanding that was negotiated between Washington and Tehran as something "provisional" at best. "It's a memorandum of understanding. And if I don’t like it, we’ll go back to shooting at them, dropping bombs on their head. 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?" Trump said.
The blunt rhetoric comes just days before a formal signing ceremony scheduled in Switzerland on Friday. The interim accord, whose text has not been officially released, reportedly commits Iran to promptly reopen the Strait of Hormuz and allows unrestricted oil sales. In return, the US would work to lift American and UN sanctions once a final agreement addressing Iran's nuclear program is reached.
G7 leaders released an overnight declaration backing the deal as a somewhat "historic opportunity" to prevent Iran getting nuclear-based WMDs. The statement also noted the group stands "ready to contribute to its implementation," though the specifics of that commitment remain undefined.
Trump's strong words underscored the deal's fragility itself. He confirmed that no immediate sanctions relief is included and said he would address that later. In a one-on-one meeting with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, Trump described the agreement as "very strong".
The arrangement follows weeks of heightened military build ups that saw US strikes on Iranian positions, making the ceasefire extension a dubious bridge between war and lasting peace, one that could collapse with a single decision change from Washington.