Washington, Jun 13 (PTI): Capping a tumultuous week of war and diplomacy, US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that a peace deal with Iran will be signed on Sunday and the Strait of Hormuz will be “open to all” immediately after that.
“The Deal is scheduled to get signed tomorrow, and immediately after it is signed, the Hormuz Strait is OPEN TO ALL,” the president said in a post on Truth Social after a week marked by fresh attacks on Iran, threat to take over its oil industry and tense negotiations.
Trump said his deal with Iran was the “exact opposite” of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) signed under the leadership of President Barack Obama in 2015.
“My Agreement with Iran is the exact opposite, A WALL TO NO NUCLEAR WEAPON! In fact, they no longer want a Nuclear Weapon, nor will they have one, either through purchase, development, or any other form of procurement,” he said.
Trump also claimed that Iran’s nuclear programme had been effectively neutralised and said the remaining nuclear material would be disposed of at a later stage.
“At the appropriate time, when all is calm, we will go in and get the Nuclear Dust, buried deep under the powerful sunken granite mountains, thanks to our beautiful B-2 Bombers and their brilliant pilots, and downblend and destroy it, whether in Iran, or the United States,” he said.
However, Trump kept the threat of fresh attacks dangling if the deal failed to pan out as expected.
“We look forward to working with Iran, and the entire Middle East, long into the future. Hopefully, this process will all work out quickly, easily, and smoothly. If it doesn’t, we have the ultimate alternative, hopefully never to be used again,” he said.
Earlier this week, the US carried out two rounds of strikes on Iran after its Apache helicopter was shot down by Iranian drones.
On Thursday, Trump threatened to hit them “very hard tonight” and take over Kharg Island, the oil export hub of Iran. However, within hours, he called off the strikes at the last minute.
On Friday, he slammed the Iranian interlocutors of being dishonest for leaking the terms of a potential deal to the media.
Trump’s remarks on Saturday came hours after Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that a US-Iran peace deal could be finalised within the next 24 hours, the closest the two sides have appeared to a deal since the war began on February 28.
The warring sides agreed to a ceasefire on April 8 and have since been negotiating a peace agreement. PTI SKU SCY SCY
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