Trump Says Iran Accord to Be Signed ‘Shortly’, ‘Maybe’ Thursday or Friday

US President Donald Trump attends a press conference at the Hotel Royal during the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, 17 June 2026. (EPA)
US President Donald Trump attends a press conference at the Hotel Royal during the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, 17 June 2026. (EPA)
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Trump Says Iran Accord to Be Signed ‘Shortly’, ‘Maybe’ Thursday or Friday

US President Donald Trump attends a press conference at the Hotel Royal during the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, 17 June 2026. (EPA)
US President Donald Trump attends a press conference at the Hotel Royal during the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, 17 June 2026. (EPA)

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he expected the accord with Iran ending the Middle East war to be signed "shortly" but added uncertainty over the exact date. 

"The deal we reached with Iran on Sunday will be signed shortly, tomorrow (Thursday), maybe the next day (Friday)," Trump said at the G7 summit, after previous announcements that it would be signed Friday in Switzerland. 

"We are going to most likely sign a deal," he added. 

Trump told reporters at the final press conference of the G7 that he was prepared to "bomb the hell" out of Iran if they violated the agreement. 

"If they are not behaving they will be hit again," he said. 

But he added: "They don't want to get bombed, they don't want to get hit". 

In a long succession of comments on his dealings with Iran, Trump recalled at length how he had in 2020 issued the order to kill Qassem Soleimani, the head of foreign operations for the Revolutionary Guards. 

Trump also recalled the February 28 air strike that killed supreme leader Ali Khamenei and other senior figures, who he said were "having breakfast" at the time. 

Trump said Washington "did send a copy" of its accord with Iran to end the Middle East war, following reports of tensions with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.  

Insisting he maintains a good relationship with Netanyahu, Trump reaffirmed his criticism at the G7 summit of Israel's campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon, saying "they (Israel) could do a much better job". 

Trump was also asked about the deadly strike on an Iranian school in Minab on the first day of the war, which left 155 dead, according to the Iranian authorities. 

Initially describing the question as "strange", Trump said: "Nobody did it on purpose. Mistakes are made, war is nasty." 

"I know it is under investigation," he said, telling the reporter to address the question to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth instead. 

A US Tomahawk cruise missile hit the elementary school due to a targeting mistake, according to the preliminary findings of a US military investigation reported by The New York Times. 

Trump also thanked China's Xi Jinping and Russia's Vladimir ‌Putin for ‌what he ‌called ⁠their neutrality during the ⁠war with Iran.  

"I just want to thank ⁠them because ‌they ‌made it ‌a lot better," ‌Trump said, adding that both leaders had been "neutral." 



Iran Says France's Move to Expel Two Iranian Diplomats 'Illegal'

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei (Archive photo – MEHR)
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei (Archive photo – MEHR)
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Iran Says France's Move to Expel Two Iranian Diplomats 'Illegal'

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei (Archive photo – MEHR)
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei (Archive photo – MEHR)

Iran's foreign ministry said on Monday that France's decision to expel two Iranian diplomats in response to Tehran's ban on two French diplomats was "illegal".

"The action that France took is an illegal action in response to Iran's legal action, and is in no way helpful to bilateral relations," ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said at a weekly press conference.

Last week, Baqaei said two French diplomats who were briefly arrested in Iran in July over "interference" in Iran's internal affairs "would not be permitted to return".

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot responded by saying that two Iranian diplomats in France would be expelled "in the coming days".

Barrot said the French move was a consequence of "intolerable" treatment of the French diplomats, who were briefly detained last month in Tehran.

He said the pair had been targeted by Iranian officials "in flagrant violation of diplomatic immunity".

They had also suffered "an extremely serious act of intimidation" at the hands of Iran's security service, he added.

Baqaei had previously said Paris should apologize for the actions of the French diplomats, which he said had violated the Vienna Convention.


Iran’s Currency Hits New Record Low as US Prepares to Announce More Sanctions

People walk in the Grand Bazaar in Tehran, Iran, August 23, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
People walk in the Grand Bazaar in Tehran, Iran, August 23, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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Iran’s Currency Hits New Record Low as US Prepares to Announce More Sanctions

People walk in the Grand Bazaar in Tehran, Iran, August 23, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
People walk in the Grand Bazaar in Tehran, Iran, August 23, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Iran’s currency hit a new record low Monday as Washington prepared to announce new sanctions it said would be an “economic D-Day” and would add further pressure on an economy already battered by previous sanctions and a US naval blockade.

The rial dropped to 2.02 million to the US dollar as trading opened on informal currency markets. Iran’s official Central Bank rate stood at around 1.5 million rial to the dollar, but the informal rate is what most Iranians pay.

The currency had already been under pressure before the US and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, with double-digit inflation and negative growth, but has been hitting new record lows as nearly six months of war have taken an even greater toll.

Still, US President Donald Trump has been unable to win concessions from Iran, which continues to keep a firm grip on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the key waterway through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil transited freely before the war began.

Iranian attacks and threats have severely hampered that traffic during the war.


Iran Dismisses US Threat of 'Economic D-day'

FILE - Iran's Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, Kazem Gharibabadi, waits for the start of the IAEA board of governors meeting at the International Center in Vienna, Austria, Nov. 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak, file)
FILE - Iran's Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, Kazem Gharibabadi, waits for the start of the IAEA board of governors meeting at the International Center in Vienna, Austria, Nov. 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak, file)
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Iran Dismisses US Threat of 'Economic D-day'

FILE - Iran's Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, Kazem Gharibabadi, waits for the start of the IAEA board of governors meeting at the International Center in Vienna, Austria, Nov. 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak, file)
FILE - Iran's Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, Kazem Gharibabadi, waits for the start of the IAEA board of governors meeting at the International Center in Vienna, Austria, Nov. 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak, file)

Iran on Monday dismissed Washington's declaration of a massive economic pressure campaign, saying it disproved US claims to have dismantled Tehran's military and nuclear capabilities.

"Your narrative doesn't add up: you say that Iran's military power has been 'dismantled', 100% of its military factories 'destroyed' and its nuclear program 'buried'," Kazem Gharibabadi, deputy foreign minister, said in a post on X.

Yet, he added, "there is a need for 'the largest financial invasion in history' and the mobilization of 'all institutions and powers' of the United States! Is this a victory or an admission of America's defeat?"

Earlier, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wrote in the Financial Times that Washington was launching the "single greatest financial offensive marshalled against an adversary" -- calling it an "economic D-Day".

Bessent posted on X that the measure came after the United States "dismantled Iran's military capabilities, destroyed nearly 100 percent of its military factories, and buried its nuclear program."

He is scheduled to explain the new US sanctions on Iran on Monday.

Meanwhile, Iran's foreign ministry warned countries against joining the US economic campaign. Spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said taking part would "definitely have its own consequences".

The United States and Israel triggered the Middle East war with a massive wave of strikes against Iran on February 28, triggering Iranian retaliation across the region.

An April 8 ceasefire ended nearly 40 days of intense bombardment, but control over the Strait of Hormuz soon emerged as a key flashpoint in the conflict.

Iran has controlled the vital energy conduit since the war began. Reopening the strait, vital for global oil and gas supplies, has become a US priority, but Tehran insists the waterway will remain closed until Washington lifts its naval blockade on Iranian ports, removes oil sanctions and unfreezes Iranian assets abroad.

Last week, US President Donald Trump announced that Washington would ramp up economic pressure on Iran "on an unprecedented scale."

Washington has urged other governments, including Beijing, to join efforts to further isolate Iran's economy.

In an article published on Monday in Iran's Ettela'at newspaper, Tehran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said relations with China "have taken on deeper, more structural, and more comprehensive dimensions."

Iran has faced US and international sanctions since the 1979 Iranian revolution.

Trump has repeatedly pursued a "maximum pressure" policy of economic sanctions against Iran, reinstating the approach after returning to office in January 2025 following a similar campaign during his first term.

Iran has repeatedly dismissed the sanctions policy as a failure, insisting that economic pressure and threats will not force it to change course.