U.S. President Donald Trump said he could withdraw from the emerging understanding with Iran if he is not satisfied with it, speaking before an afternoon press conference on the sidelines of the G7 summit in France. Standing next to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, Trump stressed that the agreement is still only a memorandum of understanding, not a final deal.
“If it doesn’t look good to me, we will go back to shooting them and dropping bombs on their heads,” Trump said. He added, “If they do not behave properly, we will go back immediately to dropping bombs straight on their heads.” He said the sides are expected to sign the agreement in Switzerland on Wednesday.
Trump defended the arrangement as “a great agreement” above all because, in his words, it ensures “99.9% of the issue” that Iran will never get nuclear weapons. “Iran will never have nuclear weapons. It is a very strong agreement. Nobody yet knows exactly what is written in it, but it is very strong,” he said.
Asked whether the deal includes a $300 billion development fund, Trump denied it and said any investment would be voluntary: “We are not investing in Iran, we are not putting in even 10 cents.” He also said he would not ask Gulf states to invest, though they could choose to do so. Trump again attacked the nuclear deal signed by Barack Obama, and mocked Obama by repeating what he said Iran had called him, “a stupid son of a bitch.”
