Donald Trump has issued a stark warning to Tehran that “all hell will rain down” if Iran attempts to acquire a nuclear weapon, insisting the deal to end the Middle East war makes the prohibition “loud and clear,” as both sides prepared for a formal signing ceremony in Switzerland on Friday.
Speaking at the G7 summit in France after talks with the Emir of Qatar, Trump declared the US had “no obligation” to invest in Iran despite the agreement to end nearly four months of conflict triggered by US-Israeli strikes. “We are not investing any money” in Iran, he said. Asked when the text of the deal would be publicly released, Trump said: “It’s a very powerful document, and I want it to be released. So probably pretty soon.”
The deal, which Trump declared on Truth Social at the weekend was “all signed,” centres on a memorandum of understanding that will be physically signed in Switzerland on 19 June. Trump posted that he was “fully authorising the toll-free opening of the Strait of Hormuz” and the simultaneous removal of the US naval blockade on Iranian ports. “Ships are starting to move, many loaded up with Oil, out of the Strait of Hormuz,” he said Monday, adding he did not “think we will need much help” keeping the waterway open.
Vice President JD Vance, who is set to represent the US at the Swiss signing ceremony, said Trump himself might also attend. He confirmed in an interview with NBC News that International Atomic Energy Agency and US nuclear inspectors will be permitted to enter Iran, saying: “One of the core parts of the agreement is that the IAEA and the United States are going to help Iran destroy the highly enriched stockpile, and that’s something that’s spelled out very clearly” in the memorandum of understanding. Vance also insisted no US taxpayer money would flow to Iran, despite Iranian media reporting that $12 billion of frozen assets would be released.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said a new round of negotiations between the two countries on nuclear issues and sanctions relief would begin “likely on Friday, at a location to be determined,” following the formal signing. Under the terms agreed, a 60-day negotiating window for a final deal will begin once the memorandum is physically signed. Iran’s top negotiator, deputy foreign minister Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, is expected to attend the ceremony in Switzerland. Araghchi, while welcoming the agreement, sounded a note of caution. “We have a history of broken commitments… we have a history of agreements being torn up. All of this is present in our minds,” he said — a clear reference to Trump’s withdrawal from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action during his first term.
Reaction from within Iran was divided, with Iranian military figures claiming the deal represented a “humiliation” of the US and Israel. President Masoud Pezeshkian described it as “a great achievement” for the region, while the ultraconservative newspaper Vatan-e Emrooz labelled it a “Trump surrender document.”
In Israel, the response was sharply negative. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been sidelined from the negotiations, pledged that Israeli forces would remain in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria “for as long as necessary.” Trump appeared to address Israeli concerns over Hezbollah at the G7, saying Syria “will do the job” with the group if Israel is unable to.
