US President Donald Trump has warned Iran that 'all hell will break loose' if it tries to build nuclear weapons, while also criticizing Israel over its military campaign in Lebanon in rare sharp comments during his visit to the G7 summit in France.
Speaking before a bilateral meeting with Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on the sidelines of the summit in Evian-les-Bains, Trump said a ceasefire deal reached with Iran would ensure the country 'cannot have nuclear weapons' or else 'they will be blown up'.
'This deal is a wall against nuclear weapons,' Trump said. 'The only thing that really matters to me is that Iran will never have nuclear weapons, and that is stated clearly and loudly.'
The US president assessed that Iran now has 'reasonable leadership', while previous leaders who were 'totally unreasonable' have 'departed', after US and Israeli attacks killed many Iranian officials during the early phase of the war.
A memorandum between the US and Iran is expected to be formally signed in Geneva on Friday, after which the two sides will have 60 days to negotiate a final agreement. Trump said the second phase of negotiations 'will actually be easier'.
Reacting angrily on Sunday after Israeli strikes on Beirut threatened to jeopardize delicate negotiations with Iran, Trump posted on Truth Social that the attack 'should not have happened, especially on a special day when we are very close to a Peace Deal with Iran'.
In remarks on Tuesday, he said he had a 'great relationship' with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but the Israeli leader 'must be more responsible toward Lebanon'. Trump argued that Israel has been fighting Hezbollah 'too long and too many people are dying'.
'You don't have to blow up an entire apartment building every time you're looking for someone because there are many people in those apartment buildings—and not all of them are Hezbollah,' he said.
When asked whether the US-Iran deal could survive even if Israel carries out more attacks in Lebanon, Trump replied: 'Possibly. I consider it a small war. Iran is the big issue, but we have a small thorn out there that keeps popping up and that is Hezbollah.'
