US, Iran sign ceasefire deal; Trump warns of renewed bombing in case of breach

The US and Iran released the text of an interim agreement to end their war on Wednesday, with US President Donald Trump threatening to resume attacks and kill Iranian officials if they failed to honour their commitments. Both Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian have digitally signed the memorandum, US and Iran officials said, with Iran's foreign ministry saying the agreement was already in effect as of Wednesday.

Trump, attending the G7 with other leaders in France, also withdrew at least one of his stated rationales for attacking Iran in the first place, saying it would be "unfair" for Tehran not to have ballistic missiles, having previously vowed to obliterate them.

"We're going to bomb the hell out of them if they violate the agreement," Trump said of Iran at a press conference. "I don't want them to. I want them to honor the agreement." He also called Iranians "smart people" as US and Iranian negotiators work on a permanent truce over the coming 60 days.
Earlier, he had said: "If I don't like it, if they don't behave, we'll go right back to dropping bombs right smack in the middle of their head, OK?"

The United States and Israel launched the war on Iran on February 28, assassinating the 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and top military officials on the very first day. It then spiralled into a broader regional conflict that has driven up energy prices, renewed inflationary pressures and sparked concerns about a major food supply crisis in developing countries.

Oil prices fell again on Wednesday on prospects for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the slender, vital waterway between Iran and Oman, with Brent crude futures below $80, at their lowest level since the opening salvos of the US-Iran conflict. But they later regained more than 1% after Trump said he could resume the war if he was unsatisfied with Iran.

A senior US official, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity, read out the text of the signed memorandum of understanding with Iran but said the parties could still walk away until a binding deal is reached. The 14-point agreement, which had already circulated widely before its contents were published, extends a ceasefire announced in April by another 60 days to allow the two sides to negotiate a final truce.

The deal
The memorandum includes an immediate end to the war on all fronts, including Lebanon, the full resumption of maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, the lifting of a US blockade of Iranian ports, the waiving of US sanctions on Iran, the unfreezing of its assets, and a plan worth $300 billion for the economic rehabilitation of the Islamic Republic.

Iran also undertakes not to build nuclear weapons, reaffirming a vow it had made for decades.

Despite his typically combative rhetoric, Trump appears to have achieved little of what he said he wanted at the outset of the war, while Iran appears much closer to sanctions relief worth billions of dollars than before it was attacked.

Iran's theocratic government remains in place, its stockpile of highly enriched uranium has not been surrendered, its ballistic missile capabilities have not been destroyed and it has not ended its support for anti-Israel militias like Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Speaking to reporters in Paris, Trump recanted his promise in the war's early days to destroy all of Iran's missiles and "raze their missile industry to the ground."

"I'm saying that if other countries have them, it's a little bit unfair for them not to have some," Trump said after leaving the summit.

However, G7 leaders hailed the agreement at their summit, held in the French town of Evian-les-Bains, an hour's drive along the shore of Lake Geneva from where the US has said a formal signing ceremony for the US-Iran agreement was due to be held across the Swiss border on Friday.

But Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei cast doubt on this, telling IRIB's News Network that, because the two presidents had already digitally signed the agreement, "No signing ceremony will be held in Switzerland."

European leaders share the US concerns about Iran's nuclear program and other issues, but never endorsed his decision to go to war without United Nations authorization, and worry Iran has gained leverage by withstanding the superpower onslaught and asserting control over the strait.

"We underline the need for the negotiation ... to address the threats posed by Iran in the region and beyond and ensure that they never obtain a nuclear weapon," the leaders of France, Germany, Britain, Japan, Italy, Canada and the US said in a statement.

They also demanded an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon, where the memorandum calls for a halt to hostilities between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group that have displaced more than a million people.

Fighting there has abated but not ceased since the agreement was reached on Sunday, and Israel, which was not part of the negotiations and whose military is occupying southern Lebanon, says it retains the right to use force.

Trump chides netanyahu
Trump on Wednesday gently rebuked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his tactics in Lebanon against Hezbollah. The two men have repeatedly clashed over Israel's refusal to constrain its pursuit of Hezbollah in Lebanon, where a cessation of hostilities is a key Iranian demand.

"Netanyahu happens to be a good man, gets a little excited sometimes," Trump told reporters.

"We have a little dispute over Lebanon. I say you can do a little softer touch, Bibi," he said, using Netanyahu's nickname. "You don't have to knock down a building every time somebody walks into it that's from Hezbollah."

Lebanese state media reported fresh Israeli air strikes and artillery fire in several southern towns throughout Wednesday. Lebanese security sources said Hezbollah had also launched two drone attacks on Israeli forces in the south. The group did not publicly claim the attacks.

Israel later said five of its soldiers had been injured in two Hezbollah drone attacks in southern Lebanon.