Trump says US-Iran deal will be signed within hours after Israeli strike on Beirut kills three and delays the process
President Trump said the long-awaited US-Iran memorandum will be signed on Sunday despite an Israeli airstrike on Beirut that killed three people and upended the morning’s plans, adding that the Strait of Hormuz would be opened to all.
A morning of chaos
Israeli warplanes struck a Hezbollah command center in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahieh on Sunday morning, killing three people and wounding between 15 and 16, according to Lebanese authorities. The Israel Defense Forces said the strike was a response to three projectiles fired earlier by the Iran-backed group into northern Israel. Those projectiles landed in an open area and caused no casualties.
The attack this morning on Beirut should not have happened, especially on a special day when we are so close to a peace agreement with Iran.
Trump’s fury at Netanyahu
Speaking to Axios and CNN, Trump said the Israeli prime minister had been sharply rebuked. “I was furious. He has absolutely no judgment. I told him so,” the president said. He told CNN journalist Barak Ravid that the signing had been derailed at the last minute: “They called me and said, ‘Sir, Israel is attacking Beirut’ – an hour before we were going to sign the deal. I couldn’t believe it.”
Why did Bibi launch that attack? Hezbollah fired and hit a spot in the middle of nowhere. Nobody was hurt. And then he had to launch that damn attack, right in Beirut. It made me very angry.
Trump stressed he still expected the deal to be concluded on his birthday, though the disruption had pushed the timeline back by several hours. He also urged restraint on all sides in a Truth Social post, writing that no further attacks should come from Israel anywhere in Lebanon, nor from Hezbollah against Israel.
Iran threatens to walk away
Iran’s chief negotiator, parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, accused Washington of either lacking the will or the ability to honor its commitments and said it “makes no sense” to continue on the current path. He warned that Iran could withdraw from the talks. A senior Iranian military official separately cautioned that the Israeli strikes would not go unpunished.
The US either does not have the will to honor its commitments or does not have the capacity to do so.
Yet later in the day, President Massoud Pezeshkian said the Supreme National Security Council had chosen the “path of dialogue” with the United States, leaving the door open for the signing.
What the deal promises
The prospective agreement would end hostilities between Washington and Tehran, guarantee that Iran does not build a nuclear weapon, and reopen the Strait of Hormuz to all shipping. A senior Iranian official told Reuters that the draft includes major economic provisions, including the release of $25 billion in frozen Iranian assets. Trump had told reporters on Saturday that the deal was on track for Sunday, his birthday.
- Trump announces that a US-Iran peace deal will be signed on his birthday, June 14.
- Hezbollah fires three projectiles into northern Israel; no injuries reported.
- Israel responds with an airstrike on a Hezbollah command center in Dahieh, Beirut; three killed, 15-16 wounded.
- Trump tells Axios and CNN the signing was delayed by hours, criticizes Netanyahu, and urges all sides to halt attacks.
- Expected signing of the US-Iran memorandum, with Trump stating the Strait of Hormuz will be opened to all.
A fragile regional backdrop
The strike violated the spirit of a US-brokered ceasefire earlier this month between Israel and Lebanon, under which Israel pledged not to attack Beirut provided Hezbollah refrained from targeting Israeli civilians. Hezbollah rejected that truce. Netanyahu’s office and Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a joint statement that “Israel will not tolerate attacks on its territory.” The IDF later said it was preparing for possible further attacks in the coming hours.
