Trump says US-Iran deal in ‘a few hours,’ blames Israel for delay: Report | World

US President Donald Trump on Sunday (June 14) said a proposed peace agreement with Iran remains on track but has been delayed by several hours due to Israeli military strikes on Hezbollah targets in Beirut’s southern suburbs.

US-Iran deal in ‘a few hours’: Trump

Speaking in a phone interview with Axios, Trump said the strike disrupted the planned timeline for signing the agreement, which he believes could help end the conflict and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump said he was shocked when he heard about the Israeli strike in Beirut. “It shook it up. It delayed the signing by a few hours. It was supposed to be now. Now it is scheduled for a few hours from now,” Trump said in a phone call to the Axios news outlet.

The President told Fox News that the peace deal with Iran will be signed electronically on Sunday, and the in-person signing will happen in Europe a week from now. 

Trump said he was also speaking to interlocutors in Iran to dissuade them from responding to Israeli air strikes in Beirut.

Trump fumes at Netanyahu

Trump fumed at Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu over the attack on Beirut, saying, “it is so bad — I couldn’t believe it. An hour before we are supposed to sign the deal.”

Using a string of expletives, Trump told Axios he raged at Netanyahu after Israel struck Beirut’s southern suburbs on Sunday, killing three people, in response to what it said was Hezbollah fire at northern Israel.

“Why did Bibi (Netanyahu) have to do a fucking attack?” Trump told Axios. “I was so pissed off. I let him know. He has no fucking judgement. I let him know that.”

“What the f*** are you doing?” Trump told Netanyahu in a phone call, according to Fox News.

Israel hits Beirut

Israel carried out airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs on Sunday, saying the action was in response to Hezbollah attacks on northern Israel. Lebanese authorities reported that at least three people were killed in the strikes.

Meanwhile, Tehran has maintained that any agreement aimed at ending the war must also address the parallel conflict in Lebanon, where Israel has been conducting military operations against the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement.

Also Read: ‘Let’s not blow it’: Trump warns after Israel hits Beirut, says Iran peace deal is ‘very close’

Also Read: ‘Death to Araghchi, dishonourable compromiser’: Why Iranians turned against their foreign minister