Trump says U.S. will sign Iran framework deal tomorrow

U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday night that a framework agreement with Iran will be signed tomorrow, opening 60 days of negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program. He said the deal would also reopen the Strait of Hormuz and lift the American blockade on Iranian ports. Trump wrote that the old JCPOA under Barack Obama was, in his words, a “easy, beautiful and smooth way to obtain nuclear weapons,” while his own plan is “the opposite, a wall against nuclear weapons.”

Trump said Iran “no longer wants nuclear weapons,” and added that it will not get them “by purchase, by development or by any other way.” He also said no money will be transferred under the agreement, contrasting it with the “hundreds of billions” he said Obama gave Iran, including “$1.7 billion in cash.” Trump said that at the proper time, when everything is calm, the U.S. will “collect the ‘nuclear dust’,” dilute it and destroy it, “either in Iran or in the United States,” using B-2 bombers.

He expressed cautious optimism, saying the U.S. expects to work with Iran and the Middle East for years and hopes the process will be quick, easy and smooth. “If not, we have the ultimate alternative,” he said, adding he hopes it will never be needed. He also said ties with Iran are different and better than under previous administrations.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded that there is “full agreement” with Trump that Iran will not have nuclear weapons, and said he has spent more than 30 years leading the fight against Iran’s nuclear program. Netanyahu’s office said Trump spoke with him about the emerging memorandum, and that although Israel is not a party to it, Netanyahu welcomed Trump’s commitment that the final deal would include removal of enriched material, dismantling enrichment infrastructure, limits on missile production and an end to Iran’s support for regional proxy groups. The report said the announcement followed urgent calls from Gulf and South Asian leaders, including Qatar’s emir, the UAE president and Pakistan’s army chief, who assured Trump that a preliminary framework was already on the table and helped persuade him to cancel a planned strike. U.S. officials said the military was only about three hours from launching missiles at targets inside Iran when Trump unexpectedly announced the deal.