US President Donald Trump lashed out at critics of his agreement with Iran on Thursday, calling those who accused him of offering concessions to end the war “fools”, ahead of negotiations in Switzerland on implementing the deal.
Oil prices tumbled after Trump and his Iranian counterpart
separately signed their accord to end the Middle East war, with the Strait of
Hormuz to reopen but two months of negotiations lying ahead.
In a sudden development after uncertainty over when the deal
agreed earlier this week would be formally signed, Trump put his name to it in
thick black ink at a candlelit dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron at
the Palace of Versailles outside Paris on Wednesday.
Macron — for whom the signing at the palace, which hosted
the signing of the treaty that ended World War I, was an immense coup following
his hosting of the G7 summit — shouted “bravo” as Trump signed.
“These fools, who think I haven’t been tough enough on Iran,
when the Stock Market Just Hit A RECORD HIGH, and Oil prices are ‘tumbling’
down, are either jealous, bad people, or stupid,” Trump posted on social media
hours after signing the deal.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also signed the
agreement, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said, adding that
“now it is time to test the implementation of the agreement”.
Crude fell more than three percent Thursday, extending the
losses sustained since news of the deal broke at the weekend.
– ‘Allows for peace’ –
The deal should bring an end to the current US-Israeli
conflict with the Islamic republic, which saw five weeks of all-out war until a
ceasefire early April and led to shipping being greatly restricted in the
Strait of Hormuz, causing a spike in energy prices.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan, which helped
mediate the agreement, said it “shall enter into force with immediate effect”
and Iran “will instantly reopen the Strait of Hormuz”. He also signed the
accord.
A two-month negotiating period now begins with all eyes on
the reopening of Hormuz and if progress can be made in talks over Iran’s
nuclear programme, which Washington has long suspected of concealing secret
bomb-making ambitions.
Macron hailed the deal “which allows for peace, the
reopening of the Strait of Hormuz without tolls, and 60 days to conclude an
agreement on nuclear, ballistic, and regional activities”.
There remained confusion over the next steps, with the
accord originally supposed to have been signed at an exclusive mountain-top
resort in Switzerland on Friday by Iran’s chief negotiator and parliament
speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, and US Vice President JD Vance.
Baqaei said an in-person ceremony was no longer needed. But
Sharif said an official ceremony will take place on Friday in Switzerland and
technical talks will commence.
Under the text, Washington commits to immediately waive oil
sanctions crippling Iran’s economy.
And, once a final agreement is reached on Iran’s nuclear
programme, the United States will also facilitate the release of a $300 billion
reconstruction fund supported by regional nations, the deal says.
UN atomic agency chief Rafael Grossi told reporters in
Geneva it was ready to begin defining the “concrete steps” that will need to be
taken to implement a US-Iran deal.
US officials also said Iran will dilute its enriched uranium
stocks, possibly by “down-blending on site” under the supervision of the UN
watchdog.
Iran’s ballistic missile programme was not mentioned in the
agreement, despite Israel’s longstanding push for its dismantling.
“Iranian missiles are only for firing, not for negotiations.
Iran’s defence capability will not be discussed in any way, in any process or
with any party,” Baqaei said.
– ‘Foreign policy blunder’ –
There has been some criticism from hardliners within Iran,
where the conflict was described as an “imposed war” and compared to the
1980-1988 conflict with Saddam Hussein’s Iraq.
But Ghalibaf insisted the deal represented a US “failure”,
while Pezeshkian called it “historic”.
And Trump’s decision to end the war, in which 13 US service
members were killed and a vast proportion of US ammunition stockpiles was used,
has unsettled some of his allies at home.
Apparently anticipating such criticism, Trump said at the G7
that he was prepared to “bomb the hell” out of Iran if they violated the
agreement.
But US Senator Bill Cassidy from Trump’s Republican Party
described it as the “worst foreign policy blunder in decades”.
“Iran’s nuclear ambitions were not curbed, and they have
learned that threatening the Strait of Hormuz works,” he said.
Even Fox News, the usually Trump-friendly news channel,
cited critics who said the agreement gave Iran “huge financial benefits”
without requiring the dismantlement of its nuclear programme.
And while the deal specifies that Lebanon should be part of
the equation, it is unclear whether the war on that front will be discussed in
the next 60 days.
Lebanon was drawn into the conflict when Hezbollah fired
rockets at Israel on March 2 in support of Iran. Israel responded by launching
a massive campaign of strikes and a ground invasion.
While violence has declined in Lebanon following the
announcement of the deal, an Israeli drone strike in south Lebanon killed one
person on Thursday, according to Lebanese state media.
AFP
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