Trump: Frozen Assets Must Be Returned at Some Point; Will Bomb Iran If Agreement Not Kept

With the U.S. administration of Donald Trump releasing the full text of the end-of-war memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Iran on June 17 (local time), President Trump warned that he would resume bombings if Iran fails to comply with the agreement.

President Trump, who is visiting France to attend the Group of Seven (G7) summit, held a press conference there on the same day and said of the end-of-war MOU, "We achieved every single objective we wanted to achieve, and then some."

Trump said the core of the agreement is "making sure Iran cannot have nuclear weapons, and they cannot develop or buy nuclear weapons," adding, "If they do not comply with the agreement, we will bomb them again until they do."

President Trump repeatedly criticized former President Barack Obama's 2015 Iran nuclear deal (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA), calling the "Obama deal" a "pathway to nuclear weapons."

Referring to the new agreement between the U.S. and Iran as the "Trump deal," he praised it, saying, "This is a wall preventing them from getting nuclear weapons. Nobody can get through it. We built a wall, and they cannot have nuclear weapons."

He also noted that the stock market has surged and oil prices have plummeted since the agreement, saying, "What I did not want to see was an economic catastrophe."

This remark is interpreted as suggesting that the economic costs of a prolonged war were among the reasons for pursuing the end-of-war agreement.

President Trump also said that an escalation of military conflict with Iran "could have caused an international depression."

He added that he did not want to be like former U.S. President Herbert Hoover, referencing the Great Depression of the 1930s.

President Trump also spoke about the $300 billion (approximately 454 trillion won) Iran reconstruction fund specified in the MOU, saying, "If Iran behaves properly, and if people want to invest in Iran, they will be able to do so," making it clear that Iran's compliance with the agreement is a prerequisite for the reconstruction fund.

Regarding the release of Iran's frozen assets, he said, "It's not our money, it's their money. We tied it up, and I think at some point we probably have to give it back."

The MOU released on this day included a clause stating, "The United States commits to enabling the full use of the frozen or restricted funds and assets of the Islamic Republic of Iran at the time this MOU is implemented."

Regarding the current Iranian leadership, President Trump said he views it as a virtual "regime change," assessing that "the new leadership group is much smarter, less radical, and I think they are great people."

Regarding the G7 summit being held immediately after the end-of-war MOU agreement, Trump said, "It couldn't have happened at a more appropriate time," adding, "I hope this peace agreement will be the beginning of a much larger agreement across the Middle East."

Trump also expressed gratitude to Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Putin for remaining neutral during the war with Iran, saying that their neutrality made the situation much better.

After traveling from Evian, where the G7 summit was held, to Paris to attend a dinner at the Palace of Versailles with French President Emmanuel Macron, Trump met with reporters at the airport. When asked, "The MOU contains a clause to refrain from the threat of force, so isn't saying you will bomb Iran if they do not implement the agreement a threat?" he replied, "You can call it whatever you want, but that's what's going to happen."

This reaffirmed his existing position that military action could be resumed if Iran violates the agreement, maintaining a high level of warning.

Regarding Iran's possession of ballistic missiles, Trump said, "If other countries have them, it's a little unfair for Iran not to have some."

This is interpreted as indicating that while Iran's development of nuclear weapons will be blocked, a more flexible approach could be taken regarding the ballistic missile issue.

At this point, there could be differences in interests between the United States and Israel, which started the war together.

Regarding the 60-day follow-up negotiations to be held after the signing of the MOU, Trump suggested that the negotiation deadline could be applied flexibly, saying he does not view the 60 days as a "hard deadline" as long as "they behave properly."

Meanwhile, regarding whether to reimpose oil-related sanctions on Russia that had been lifted during the war with Iran, Trump said, "I wanted oil prices to stay as low as possible, and now oil prices have gone down significantly," adding, "We could impose them again."

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.