US President Donald Trump touts Iran deal as defining victory

Evian (France): US President Donald Trump on Wednesday mounted an aggressive defence of his Iran agreement, portraying it as a historic diplomatic achievement that prevented a wider Middle East war, reopened the Strait of Hormuz and permanently blocked Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Speaking at a lengthy news conference after the G7 summit in France, Trump repeatedly described the agreement as a breakthrough made possible by a combination of military force and diplomacy.

“On Sunday, we reached an agreement with Iran that achieves everything we set out to accomplish — everything and much more,” Trump said.

“Ending the current conflict, reopening the Strait of Hormuz and preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, that’s what it was all about.”

Trump argued that continued military action would have prolonged instability in the Gulf and disrupted global energy markets.

“If we didn’t do this deal, we could have dropped more bombs for another three weeks, two weeks, four weeks, two years,” he said.

“You would never have the Hormuz Strait open.”

The president repeatedly linked the agreement to falling oil prices and rising stock markets, saying investors had responded positively whenever prospects for a settlement improved.

“Every time we talked about the possibility of peace, the stock market shot up like a rocket ship,” he said.

Trump also dismissed criticism from conservatives who had argued that military pressure should have continued.

“Nobody was tougher than me,” he said, pointing to his 2020 decision to kill Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani and recent strikes on Iranian military and nuclear facilities.

The president said the memorandum would prevent Iran from either developing or acquiring a nuclear weapon.

“Iran has agreed that they will neither produce nor procure a nuclear weapon,” Trump said.

“If they don’t honour the agreement … we’ll probably go back to bombing them until they honour it.”

Trump also suggested that economic relief for Iran would depend on its behaviour.

“If they’re doing things right, if people want to invest, they can invest,” he said. “But we’re not putting up money.”

While defending the agreement, Trump acknowledged that it remained a memorandum of understanding and that negotiations on a broader settlement would continue.

“This is a memorandum of understanding,” he said. “It’s very important.”

According to analysis published by The New York Times, the agreement represents a significant shift from weeks of military confrontation towards a framework built around deterrence and negotiated compliance. The newspaper noted that the administration is betting that the threat of renewed military action will be sufficient to enforce the accord without requiring a formal treaty structure.

The Washington Post described the agreement as one of the most consequential foreign policy initiatives of Trump’s second term. The White House is presenting it as evidence that military pressure can produce diplomatic outcomes, the daily reported.

The Wall Street Journal said the administration’s argument that reopening the Strait of Hormuz and reducing the risk of disruption to global oil supplies could provide significant economic benefits beyond the Middle East.

Trump said the agreement could become the foundation for a broader regional settlement.

“As I expressed to the world leaders here this week, it’s my hope that the peace agreement will be the beginning of a much larger deal all across the Middle East,” he said.

The agreement was signed later Wednesday at the Palace of Versailles following a dinner hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron, capping what Trump called one of the most successful international summits of his presidency.

IANS