Agreement or no agreement? Trump’s social media posts add to confusion in Iran conflict

WASHINGTON — As President Donald Trump’s team worked actively behind the scenes over Memorial Day weekend to reach a peace deal with Iran, the president’s own social media posts sowed confusion.

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It began Saturday afternoon, following a phone call with ten Arab leaders, amid a flurry of questions about the status of the talks. Trump said on Truth Social that a peace deal with Iran had been “extensively negotiated” and “would be announced shortly.”

Reporters scrambled to make plans for how to cover the deal once it was announced, but no announcements were made.

Less than 24 hours later, Trump walked back his statement. The phrase “extensively negotiated” no longer became “even fully negotiated.”

The Trump administration has given conflicting public reports on the war since the United States and Israel began the bombing campaign on February 28. The president initially said Iran’s military capabilities had been wiped out, only for official government assessments to emerge that Iran was digging up its arsenal.

In early May, the president announced an effort to guide ships through the blocked Strait of Hormuz and his key allies publicly touted the plan; then canceled it 36 ​​hours later, after backlash from Arab allies, NBC News reported.

And over the weekend, amid conflicting reports about peace talks, Iran accused the United States of violating the ceasefire and threatened retaliation after a new round of strikes that the United States described as defensive. The White House did not immediately comment on the messages.

As of Sunday morning, the president had not provided any updates on the negotiations, but he criticized former President Barack Obama’s previous deal with Iran, reached 11 years ago, aimed at curbing the development of nuclear weapons in exchange for reduced sanctions. Trump called it “one of the worst deals ever.”

As part of the Obama deal, Iran agreed to give up 97% of its enriched uranium stockpiles and 70% of its centrifuges. Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018. Iran began violating the terms of the deal once the United States withdrew, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

On Monday morning, the president posted again without detailing any progress in the negotiations, making ambiguous the agreement that was on track to be “finalized” on Friday. Trump wrote: “Either the Iran deal will be important and meaningful, or there will be no deal. »

Once again, he argued that Obama’s Iran deal was “a direct and open path to a nuclear weapon,” even though the IAEA had confirmed that Iran had fulfilled its nuclear disarmament commitments before the United States withdrew from the deal. The IAEA says Iran resumed uranium enrichment and increased its stockpiles after Trump withdrew from the deal.

Two hours later, Trump sounded optimistic, writing that the talks were “going well” and declaring that the ten Arab countries that participated in the talks now had a mandate to rejoin the Abraham Accords that normalized relations between Israel and five other countries, including the United Arab Emirates.

In the list of countries now required by Trump to recognize Israel, the president included Egypt and Jordan, even though both countries established relations with Israel that predate the Abraham Accords. Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty in 1979 and Jordan and Israel signed a peace treaty in 1994.

“Expanding the Abraham Accords has been a priority for President Trump since his first term,” White House Press Secretary Anna Kelly said. “As the President said, the Abraham Accords brought enormous economic benefits to all countries involved and enabled historic cooperation. This would therefore be a natural complement to a peace agreement between the United States and Iran. »

Trump wrote that if no deal was reached, the country would return to the battlefield “bigger and stronger than ever.” Resumption of combat operations may not be easy.

NBC News reported on depleted munitions following the military operation launched on February 28, noting that without a replenished stockpile, the Pentagon may not be able to sustain several more months of operations in the Middle East. As of mid-May, the Pentagon had not signed any new contracts to replenish “dangerously low levels” of munitions.

At the end of Memorial Day, Trump floated a new option: Iran’s enriched uranium would either be “immediately delivered to the United States” or “in collaboration and coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran, destroyed on site or, in another acceptable location, with the Atomic Energy Commission, or its equivalent.”

The Atomic Energy Commission no longer exists, having been abolished more than 50 years ago. It is possible that Trump is referring to the International Atomic Energy Agency, but it is not clear. The White House did not respond to a request for clarification.

At a Memorial Day event at Arlington National Cemetery, Trump said Americans lost their lives in part “to make sure that the number one state sponsor of terrorism in the world will never have a nuclear weapon. Oh, and they won’t have one. They will never have a nuclear weapon. I’m sure you, I’m sure you know that.”

The audience applauded.

By the end of the holiday weekend, it was unclear whether Iran’s nuclear materials or remaining “nuclear dust” would even be included in a final deal…if there was a deal.

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