‘Not final’: Trump flips again on Iran deal, plans press conference in France

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the recently announced framework with Iran remained a work in progress rather than a finalised agreement, indicating that negotiations were still ongoing. He warned that if he was dissatisfied with the final terms, the situation could rapidly deteriorate and potentially return to active military conflict.

“The text is not final; it’s a memorandum of understanding. If I don’t like it, we’ll go back to shooting at them, dropping bombs,” he said on the sidelines of the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Evian-les-Bains, France. He made the comments while addressing the media alongside Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi.

“If they don’t behave, we’ll go right back to dropping bombs right smack in the middle of their head, because they misbehaved for 47 years,” he added.

Trump also warned that, in the absence of a deal, the Strait of Hormuz would “never open”. The narrow waterway has been blockaded by both Iran and the US, disrupting global crude oil supplies and jolting international markets.

The “America first” leader said markets had “gone wild” following the announcement of the deal, but dismissed reports that Washington was planning to invest in Iran.

“We’re not putting up 10 cents,” Trump said. “We are not investing, and we do not have a fund.” He added that he was not asking Gulf countries to invest in Iran, but “if they do it, fine”.

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