The president said negotiations with Iran are ‘proceeding nicely’ while warning attacks could resume if Tehran rejects the terms of a negotiated settlement.
U.S. President Donald Trump on May 25 linked a potential agreement with Iran to a sweeping expansion of the Abraham Accords, saying that Arab and Muslim-majority nations involved in the negotiations should normalize ties with Israel as part of a broader settlement aimed at stabilizing the Middle East at a time of “conflict and war.”
Trump said in a post on Truth Social that negotiations with Tehran were “proceeding nicely” but warned that failure to reach an agreement could lead to renewed military action.
“It will only be a Great Deal for all or, no Deal at all—Back to the Battlefront and shooting,” Trump wrote.
He said that a resumption of strikes would be “bigger and stronger than ever before.”
Negotiations are currently underway between Iran and the United States on a potential deal to settle the conflict.
Trump said on May 23 that Washington and Tehran had nearly finalized a memorandum of understanding on ending the war. Although details of the agreement remain unclear, Trump said it would involve Iran agreeing to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the critical maritime waterway that Tehran has been effectively blocking, sending prices of crude and other key commodities soaring.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said during a May 25 news briefing that the potential memorandum of understanding contains 14 points and is broadly focused on halting the hostilities and ending the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports and shipping, in exchange for Iran lifting its own restrictions on the Strait of Hormuz.
In the May 23 message in which Trump announced that the memorandum of understanding was nearing completion, he said he discussed the proposal with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Emirati President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, King of Jordan Abdullah II, King of Bahrain Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Pakistani military chief Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, among others.
Trump expanded on this on May 25, saying that countries including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, and Jordan should join the Abraham Accords simultaneously as part of a broader regional settlement involving Iran.
“It should start with the immediate signing by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and everybody else should follow suit,” Trump wrote. “If they don’t, they should not be part of this Deal in that it shows bad intention.”
By Tom Ozimek
