The Media Line: President Trump Defends Iran Deal, Warns US Could Resume Strikes 

President Trump Defends Iran Deal, Warns US Could Resume Strikes 

The emerging agreement would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, extend the ceasefire, and commit Iran not to produce or acquire nuclear weapons 

By The Media Line Staff 

President Donald Trump, in a wide-ranging press conference at the G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains, France, on Wednesday, defended an emerging US-Iran agreement, argued that it would prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and warned that US military strikes could resume if Tehran violates its commitments. He also criticized Israel’s military operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon. 

The agreement, a memorandum of understanding expected to be formally signed in Switzerland on Friday, is intended to extend the ceasefire, reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and create a framework for further negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program and related regional issues. US officials have said the deal was signed electronically over the weekend, though the timing and format of the final signing remained in flux on Wednesday. 

“On Sunday, we reached an agreement with Iran that achieves everything we set out to accomplish—everything, and much more—ending the current conflict, reopening the Strait of Hormuz, and preventing Iran from ever obtaining a nuclear weapon,” President Trump said. 

The president repeatedly returned to what he called the central provision of the agreement: Iran’s nuclear program. 

“Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. They can’t develop it, buy it. They can never have a nuclear weapon,” he insisted. 

The memorandum of understanding, which senior US officials read to reporters on Wednesday ahead of an expected formal signing on Friday, includes language stating that Iran will not produce or acquire nuclear weapons. 

Read the full text of the US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding 

President Trump contrasted the agreement with the Obama-era nuclear deal, which he canceled during his first term and repeatedly criticized throughout the press conference. 

“The Obama deal was a road to a nuclear weapon,” he argued. “The Trump deal was a wall for a nuclear weapon that the nuclear weapon could not get through.” 

Although President Trump said the agreement could be signed within days, he emphasized that compliance would determine whether it remains in force. 

“If it doesn’t get done in 60 days, that’s all right. We go back to bombing,” he said. 

The president repeatedly warned that military action remains available if Iran does not adhere to the framework. 

“If they don’t honor the agreement, we’ll probably go back to bombing them until they honor it,” President Trump said. 

Later, when pressed about enforcement provisions, President Trump offered an even more direct warning. 

“I let them know. I said, look, if you don’t adhere to the agreement, I don’t want to do that, but we’re going to bomb the hell out of you.” 

He argued that the threat of renewed military action is sufficient to ensure compliance. 

“Doesn’t have to be,” he said when asked whether the agreement contains enforceable mechanisms. “They don’t want to get bombed. They don’t want to get hit.” 

President Trump also defended allowing Iran to retain some conventional missile capabilities, arguing that ballistic missiles are not the core issue addressed by the agreement. 

“We’ll be working on a parallel effort with the Gulf nations to address non-nuclear issues, such as the conventional ballistic missiles,” he said. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted on several occasions that a provision targeting Iran’s ballistic missile program must be part of any framework. 

In February, Netanyahu told reporters after returning from a trip to Washington to meet with President Trump that an agreement should address “not only the issue of nuclear weapons but also ballistic missiles and Iranian proxies in the region.” 

At the press conference, President Trump dismissed suggestions that Iran should be barred entirely from possessing missiles. 

“What am I going to do? Am I going to let Saudi Arabia have missiles, but they can’t have them? It doesn’t work that way.” 

He argued that nuclear weapons, not ballistic missiles, represent the principal threat. 

“Missiles aren’t the problem. Missiles are—they hurt a little location, but they don’t blow up the planet.” 

President Trump said the United States had already significantly reduced Iran’s missile capabilities through military action. 

“We knocked out probably 84%, 85% of their missiles,” he said. 

The president spent a significant portion of the press conference discussing Israel and Netanyahu, praising the relationship between the two leaders while also expressing frustration with Israeli operations in Lebanon. 

“In all fairness to Bibi Netanyahu, who happens to be a good man, gets a little excited sometimes. But he happens to be a very good man. We’ve had an amazing partnership.” 

At the same time, President Trump acknowledged differences over Hezbollah and Lebanon. 

“We have a little dispute over Lebanon. I say, you can do a little softer touch, Bibi. You don’t have to knock down a building every time somebody walks into it that’s from Hezbollah.” 

The president said he had sent a copy of the agreement to Israel and argued that the deal delivers Israel’s most important strategic objective. 

“I told Bibi, Bibi, your biggest risk was that they’d drop a nuclear weapon into the middle of Israel. They’d only need one, and there would be no more Israel.” 

“Think of it, Bibi. You got the best—the most important thing that you were asking for is that.” 

President Trump also criticized recent Israeli strikes in Beirut, specifically referencing attacks against Hezbollah targets. 

“I’m not saying they shouldn’t protect themselves,” he said. “They could behave better.” 

Referring to a recent strike, the president added: “That was a big hit. That was unnecessary in my book.” 

He expressed sympathy for Lebanon and said the country had suffered decades of instability and conflict. 

“I feel very bad for Lebanon,” President Trump said. “They have been living in hell.” 

A major component of President Trump’s defense of the agreement centered on economic arguments. He repeatedly claimed that the deal prevented a broader crisis in global energy markets and would help stabilize oil prices. 

“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.” 

According to the president, reopening the Strait of Hormuz will restore maritime traffic and energy shipments while helping reduce oil prices worldwide. 

“Maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has already increased very substantially, and the normal flow of energy will resume in the coming days.” 

President Trump argued that continuing the conflict risked severe economic consequences. 

“Rather than possibly going into a depression,” President Trump said, the agreement provides stability for global markets and energy supplies. 

He also defended the military campaign that preceded the agreement, including strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities and military infrastructure. He claimed US operations had devastated Iran’s military capabilities and left Tehran in a position where it was willing to negotiate. 

“If we didn’t hit that with the B-2 bombers, they would have had a nuclear weapon,” he said. 

Beyond Iran, President Trump briefly discussed a range of international issues. He praised mediation efforts by Qatar and Pakistan, thanked China and President Xi Jinping for maintaining what he described as a neutral position during the conflict, and said he hopes the agreement will lead to broader regional normalization and an expansion of the Abraham Accords. 

The president also addressed the war in Ukraine, meetings with world leaders at the G7, efforts to combat Ebola in Africa, artificial intelligence, energy policy, and immigration. 

Still, President Trump repeatedly returned to the Iran agreement as the central achievement of the summit. 

“The most important clause,” he said, is the commitment that Iran “will never have a nuclear weapon.” 

“This agreement now provides Iran with a historic opportunity,” the president said. “If they follow the path of cooperation, we’ll have opened for them. Their country will have a chance to survive.” 

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