EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France/NABATIEH, Lebanon, June 17 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday defended his interim agreement with Iran, saying it had averted a global economic catastrophe, while warning he could launch fresh attacks if Tehran failed to honour its commitments.
Speaking at the close of a G7 summit in France, Trump also said maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz had risen sharply since the truce was announced three days ago and expressed hope it could mark the start of a wider peace across the Middle East.
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“We’re going to bomb the hell out of them (Iran) if they violate the agreement. I don’t want them to. I want them to honor the agreement,” Trump told a press conference, adding that the Iranians were “smart people”.
Earlier, he had said: “If I don’t like it, if they (Iran) don’t behave, we’ll go right back to dropping bombs right smack in the middle of their head, OK?”
The war, which began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28 and spiraled into a broader regional conflict, has driven up energy prices, renewed inflationary pressures and sparked concerns about a major food supply crisis in developing countries.
“So the one thing I didn’t want to see is, I didn’t want to see economic catastrophe. If you kept this going, that could have happened,” Trump said. He thanked Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin for being “neutral” during the conflict, saying they had not thwarted his efforts to curb Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
Oil prices fell again on Wednesday on prospects for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, with Brent crude futures below $80, at their lowest level since the opening salvos of the U.S.-Iran conflict.
But they later regained more than 1% after Trump said he could resume the war if he was unsatisfied with Iran.
Speaking to reporters, a senior U.S. official read out the text of the signed memorandum of understanding with Tehran but said the parties could still walk away until a binding deal is reached.
The 14-point draft, which had already circulated widely before its contents were published, extends a ceasefire announced in April by another 60 days to allow the two sides to negotiate a permanent truce.
G7 LEADERS WELCOME IRAN DEAL
The memorandum includes an immediate end to the war on all fronts, including Lebanon, the full resumption of maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, the lifting of a U.S. blockade of Iranian ports, the waiving of international sanctions on Iran, and a plan worth $300 billion for the economic rehabilitation of the Islamic Republic.
Iran also undertakes not to build nuclear weapons, reaffirming a vow it had made for decades.
Despite his typically combative rhetoric, Trump appears to have achieved little of what he said he wanted at the outset of the war.
Iran’s theocratic government remains in place, its stockpile of highly enriched uranium has not been surrendered, its ballistic missile capabilities have not been destroyed and it has not ended its support for anti-Israel militias like Hezbollah in Lebanon.
