The U.S. president said the conflict had ‘diminished Iran.’
U.S. President Donald Trump on June 19 responded to criticism of a memorandum that Washington signed with Tehran to end the Iran war, saying that the Iranian regime is finished and doesn’t have much of a military left.
The memorandum included a provision that starts a 60-day negotiating clock to reach a final deal on the future of Iran’s controversial nuclear program. The Trump administration, in the memorandum and in public comments, left open the door to carry out more attacks if Iran does not comply.
“We didn’t meet out of desperation, Iran did. They are FINISHED!” the president wrote in a post on Truth Social. “We’ll play out the 60 days. They get no money, not ten cents!”
Trump said that the war had “diminished Iran,” which doesn’t have “an Air Force, a Navy, Antiaircraft Equipment, Radar, or practically anything else.”
He also chided critics of the deal, claiming that Iran is now “better off” than it was four months ago, or when the U.S. strikes started.
Trump signed the memorandum of understanding with Iran on June 17 while dining with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Palace of Versailles in France. The deal is slated to take immediate effect and extends a ceasefire while ending a U.S. blockade of Iran’s ports and fully reopening the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively blocked since the conflict started.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance, in comments to reporters at the White House, shrugged off criticism that the rollout of the initial deal was confusing, saying, “I don’t think our public messaging has been chaotic.”
He also offered a warning to Israel, which has pushed the United States to take a harder stance against Iran and launched attacks on the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorist group in Lebanon throughout the war, including just before the deal extending the ceasefire was reached. Those attacks complicated the peace efforts with Iran.
Trump appears to be “the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time,” Vance said. “And he happens to be the head of state of the world’s superpower.”
