WASHINGTON/TEHRAN: US President Donald Trump criticized a Zionist strike on Lebanon that could complicate attempts to finalize a framework deal between the United States and Iran on Sunday on ending their war, but said an agreement was nonetheless close. Iranian negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said the Zionist entity ‘s attack on the southern suburbs of Beirut showed the US lacked the will or ability to fulfil its commitments.
Tehran warned of a “strong response”, with its top joint military command saying the “finger (is) on the trigger” ready to fire at the “enemy’s heart”. In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said: “This morning’s attack on Beirut should not have happened, particularly on a special day when we are so close to a Peace Deal with Iran.” “We are very close to a Deal that will bring peace to the region, including to Lebanon, and all sides should stand down,” he wrote.
“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. Trump fumed at Zionist Prime Minister Benjamin 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 the Zionist entity struck Beirut’s southern suburbs on Sunday, killing three people. “Why did Bibi (Netanyahu) have to do a f****** attack?” Trump told Axios. “I was so pissed off. I let him know. He has no f****** judgement. I let him know that.”
Trump and mediator Pakistan said on Saturday they expected the deal would be signed on Sunday, the US president’s 80th birthday. — Agencies
An official involved in the talks said on Sunday that mediators were optimistic the deal was “nearly over the line”, and a Kremlin aide said Trump had told Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone on Sunday that a deal was near.
But Tehran cast doubt over the timing even before the strike on Beirut, saying on Saturday that the signing would not be on Sunday though it could happen in the coming days. A senior Iranian official told Reuters that, under the terms of the draft deal, the US would agree to release $25 billion of frozen Iranian assets, while Tehran would agree not to produce or acquire nuclear weapons. Qatari negotiators flew to Tehran on Sunday morning as part of efforts to finalize the agreement, a source with knowledge of the situation told Reuters. – Agencies
