President Donald Trump said Wednesday evening that without the Iran nuclear memorandum of understanding, the US could have continued bombing for another two, three, or four weeks — or even two more years — and that under such a scenario the Strait of Hormuz would never have reopened, according to Israeli outlet Abu Ali Express. Trump characterized his critics as repeating a mistake.
President Donald Trump said Wednesday evening that without the Iran nuclear memorandum of understanding, the US could have continued bombing for another two, three, or four weeks — or even two more years — and that under such a scenario the Strait of Hormuz would never have reopened, according to Israeli outlet Abu Ali Express. Trump characterized his critics as repeating a mistake.
This statement marks the president's latest defense of the deal in a sequence of escalating assertions. Earlier Wednesday afternoon (13:48 Jerusalem), Trump first posted on Truth Social that he is '99.9 percent' sure Iran will not get nuclear weapons, then told the G7 summit that the alternative to the deal is a global recession 'only stupid people would want.' By 13:48, he had circulated a statement arguing the Strait 'would never have opened' without the deal and calling opponents 'stupid people.' The evening remarks now extend that timeline to two years of potential bombing.
The thread has evolved from a single outlet's report (Abu Ali Express) to multiple Israeli media citing the president directly. As The Zioneer reported Tuesday, Trump said the strait would be fully open by Friday and that frozen Iranian assets would not be released until Iran 'does what it needs to do.' Wednesday morning, he signaled the MOU is not final and threatened to resume bombing. The backdrop includes a reported preliminary 60-day ceasefire framework, as The Zioneer noted on June 12.
The actual text of the MOU has not been published. It remains unclear whether Trump's timeline for renewed bombing represents a negotiating position or a concrete military contingency.
6 developments
- DevelopingTrump says only one country asked US to continue bombing Iran, calls deal a nuclear blocker
- StrongTrump says Iran will halt fire on Israel for at least a week, warns of 'wipe out' if talks fail
- DevelopingTrump: If not for Iran deal, bombing would have continued for weeks or years
- ConfirmedTrump claims Iran asked him to stop bombing, Pentagon denies any US warship hit
Source and signal
- Internal intake