The Trump administration will allow Iran to sell oil and fuel immediately once the agreement ending the war is signed, according to people familiar with the matter cited Tuesday by The Wall Street Journal. The move is expected to include sanctions waivers for oil sales and for related services needed to carry them out, including banking, shipping, and insurance.
The report came after President Donald Trump sharply criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying Israel has been fighting Hezbollah for too long and killing too many people. He said, “You don’t need to blow up a building every time you want to kill one person,” calling Netanyahu’s approach in Lebanon “excessive” and saying Israel should be more responsible. Trump added that if Israel cannot finish the job against Hezbollah, Syrian leader Ahmad al-Sharaa will do it, and urged Netanyahu to let Syria handle the matter.
On the Iran deal, Trump said it “should be a successful deal” and is moving to a second stage that should be easier. He said the United States is not putting any money into Iran, unlike under Barack Obama, and insisted, “Iran will not have nuclear weapons.” He warned that if Iran gets a bomb, “all hell will break loose,” and said he believes the deal amounts to regime change because “the whole first and second tier” of Iran’s leadership has been destroyed. He also said Netanyahu once went to Washington and begged Obama not to make a deal, and claimed, “If not for me, Israel would not exist today.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the end of the war must also mean “the end of the occupation.” He said the agreement is incomplete without an Israeli withdrawal from the areas seized in this war, and warned that any future Israeli military attack on Lebanon or continued occupation of Lebanese territory would violate the memorandum of understanding.
The article also recalled Trump’s anger after an Israeli airstrike in Beirut’s Dahieh district earlier this week, when he reportedly phoned Netanyahu and asked, “What the hell are you doing?” He wrote on Truth that the Beirut strike should not have happened, especially on a day when the sides were so close to a peace deal with Iran. Israeli officials said they were stunned by the agreement and called it “shocking,” even as the formal signing is already scheduled for Friday in Geneva. A senior U.S. official said the deal does not require an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon, and that Israel retains the right to self-defense against Hezbollah.
