Trump made the comments during a G7 summit held in France [Mandel NGAN / AFP via Getty Images]
US President Donald Trump maintained on Tuesday that an interim accord with Iran makes clear that Tehran would never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon, and he also suggested Syria could be better positioned to disarm Hezbollah.
Speaking ahead of talks with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on the sidelines of the G7 summit in France, Trump defended the 14-point memorandum of understanding with Iran that has yet to be made public. “The only thing that really matters to me is Iran will never have a nuclear weapon, and it says it loud and clear,” he told reporters, warning that “all hell will rain down” on Iran if it sought to acquire one.
US and Iranian officials are due in Switzerland on Friday to begin detailed negotiations, opening a 60-day window for complex technical talks. These are expected to cover issues such as the future of Iran’s highly enriched uranium and the lifting of sanctions.
European allies have voiced concern that an inexperienced US negotiating team could struggle to secure a robust agreement, potentially leading to a prolonged standoff.
In 2015, former US President Barack Obama secured a nuclear deal with Iran in exchange for sanctions relief, a process that took two years to finalise. Trump withdrew the United States from that accord during his first term.
“This deal is a wall to a nuclear weapon. His (Obama) deal was a road to a nuclear weapon. My deal, they can’t have a nuclear, they get blown up,” Trump said.
Diplomats and analysts note that Iranian negotiators are highly skilled in nuclear diplomacy, often exploiting weaknesses in their counterparts and buying time to advance their agenda, making the prospect of a comprehensive agreement within 60 days challenging.
Trump also said on Tuesday that he likes the idea of sending the Iran deal to Congress for review, a request by some Republican lawmakers.
“I never thought about sending it, never even thought about it, but I will,” Trump told reporters. “I will send it to Congress. I like the idea.”
He added that Iran wanted to get a deal done, saying, “They have to get back to business, and the relationship is now normalized, so I think it’s going to go pretty quickly.”
“Could go faster, could take longer too, but it could go fast,” he said during a meeting with Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the president of the UAE.
Trump says suggested Syria ‘take care of Hezbollah’
One key factor in whether the interim accord holds will be the situation in Lebanon, where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said his troops would remain in the south as long as needed to tackle Hezbollah. Tehran has demanded an Israeli withdrawal.
Trump appeared critical of Israel’s strategy in Lebanon and also suggested that neighbouring Syria – which under President Ahmed al-Sharaa is struggling to stabilise the country after years of civil war – could be best placed to intervene.
Praising Sharaa as doing an “amazing job”, Trump said at a G7 summit: “If Israel can’t do the job (against Hezbollah) without killing everyone else, then he (Sharaa) will do the job. Syria will do the job.”
Sharaa “is very good with Hezbollah, does not like them”, Trump said, adding that the Syrian leader, who came to power after the fall of Bashar al-Assad, is “no boy scout”.
Israel “is fighting Hezbollah too long and too many people are being killed,” he said.
“I suggested to Israel to let Syria take care of Hezbollah as, to be honest with you, I think they would do a better job,” said Trump.
Following reports that his relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in decline, Trump said “Bibi (Netanyahu) has to be more responsible with respect to Lebanon.”
“I am not happy with the way Israel had handled themselves with Lebanon and Hezbollah. They should have been able to do the job faster,” Trump said.
