Trump tirade: No sanctions relief for Iran

Donald Trump lashed out at Iran­ian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, saying the US would abandon plans to roll back sanctions on Tehran.

US President Donald Trump says saying the US would abandon plans to roll back sanctions on Tehran. Picture: AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

Donald Trump lashed out at Iran­ian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, saying the US would abandon plans to roll back sanctions on Tehran.

In a social-media post, the US President criticised Khamenei for claiming victory over Israel, arguing that the country’s leader wasn’t grateful for his efforts to spare his life.

“During the last few days, I was working on the possible removal of sanctions, and other things, which would have given a much better chance to Iran at a full, fast, and complete recovery – The sanctions are BITING!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“But no, instead I get hit with a statement of anger, hatred, and disgust, and immediately dropped all work on sanction relief, and more.”

The tirade came as Iran prepared to hold a state funeral for 60 nuclear scientists and military commanders who were killed in the 12-day bombing blitz that ­Israel launched on June 13.

Iran says the scientists were among a total of at least 627 civilians killed.

Trump said the US would bomb Iran again “without question” if intelligence indicated it was able to enrich uranium to military grade.

His outburst came in response to Khamenei’s comments a day earlier that Iran had won the war with Israel and that the US had exaggerated the impact of the bombs it had dropped on Iranian nuclear facilities last Saturday.

The 12-day war between Israel and Iran ended on Monday with Trump announcing a ceasefire between Iran and Israel. The ceasefire halted – for now – a conflict that began with Israel’s strikes on Iran’s military defences and leadership, and later widened into direct conflict between the US and Iran after American B-2 bombers struck three nuclear sites in Iran.

The White House has maintained that using force against Iran wasn’t off the table should Iran move to rebuild its nuclear program, though the President said he preferred diplomacy.

Trump on Friday also said he had intervened to spare Khamenei’s life. “His Country was decimated, his three evil Nuclear Sites were OBLITERATED, and I knew EXACTLY where he was sheltered, and would not let Israel, or the US Armed Forces, by far the Greatest and Most Powerful in the World, terminate his life,” Trump said on Truth Social.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Khamenei had been among Israel’s targets during its war with Iran.

The conflict has left Iran’s regime weaker than at any time since the Iraq-Iran war in the 1980s and entrenched Israel as the pre-eminent military power in the region. The Trump administration has said it was working to schedule a meeting with Iranian officials.

“I wish the leadership of Iran would realise that you often get more with HONEY than you do with VINEGAR. PEACE!!!” Trump posted.

He also said on Friday at a press conference that he didn’t see Iran rebuilding its nuclear program soon because the country was “exhausted”.

Still, Trump had shown a willingness to help Iran. Earlier in the week, in a social-media post, he wrote that “China can now continue to purchase oil from Iran”, despite previous efforts to limit Tehran’s ability to trade with the world.

Trump again proclaimed that he had saved the Ayatollah from assassination. “I SAVED HIM FROM A VERY UGLY AND ­IGNOMINIOUS DEATH, and he does not have to say ‘THANK YOU, PRESIDENT TRUMP!’”

Speculation had swirled about the fate of Khamenei before his first appearance since the ceasefire – a televised speech on Thursday. He hailed what he described as Iran’s “victory” over Israel, vowing never to yield to US pressure. “The American President exaggerated events in unusual ways, and it turned out that he needed this exaggeration,” the Iranian leader said.

With Agencies