US President Donald Trump on Sunday rejected the proposal of unfreezing Iranian assets, or lifting any sanctions upfront as part of any peace deal with Tehran amid a fragile ceasefire.
During an interview with NBC News, the US president said he would consider unfreezing Iranian assets, or lifting any sanctions after an agreement is made. “Comes after. Yeah. If they behave, if they do a good job, we start talking. Yeah,” Trump said.
Ultimatums over uranium stockpiles
When asked about Iran’s highly enriched uranium, Trump said the US will seize and destroy the over 400 kg stockpile, either with or without Tehran.
“We’ll take it out and destroy it, whether it’s on-site or whether we take it off-site,” he said.
Calls for surgical military strategy in Lebanon
The Republican leader also talked about Lebanon and called for more ‘surgical’ strikes on the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon.
“I would like to see Lebanon experience a better life. I would like to see a more surgical attack against Hezbollah. I think it should be more surgical,” Trump told NBC News.
Threats of decisive retaliation
This comes as Iran’s spokesperson for the parliament’s national security commission, Ebrahim Rezaei, threatened that Tehran will “deliver a decisive and painful response” to the Israeli attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs.
In a post on X, Rezaei wrote “These rabid dogs must be disciplined and put back in their place. Look at the sky over the occupied lands tonight.”
High-stakes diplomacy and missing leadership
US and Israel launched attack on Iran on February 28 and a ceasefire came into effect on April 8. Since then, talks have been ongoing between Trump administration and Iranian delegation to negotiate a potential peace deal.
Issuing another threat to Iran, Trump, on Sunday said, “We’re very close to a deal, or I’m going to blow the hell out of them.”
The president further said that he would be willing to speak with Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who hasn’t been seen in public since Washington and Tel Aviv’s strikes began.
Providing an update on Mojtaba’s whereabouts, Trump said, “I don’t want to say whether or not I know where he is, but there’s a good probability that I do,” NBC News reported.
President Donald Trump speaks during the 158th National Memorial Day Observance coinciding with the nation's 250th anniversary, at the Memorial Amphitheater in Arlington National Cemetery. (Photo: AP) 
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