Trump says Iran deal in ‘a few hours’, blames Israel for delay

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said Sunday that a peace deal with Iran was still on track to be signed within hours, despite an Israeli strike on Beirut that he said had delayed the plan.

“It shook it up. It delayed the signing by a few hours. It was supposed to be now. Now it is scheduled for a few hours from now,” Trump said in a phone call to the Axios news outlet.

Trump fumed at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the attack on Beirut, saying, “it is so bad – I couldn’t believe it. An hour before we are supposed to sign the deal.”

Using a string of expletives, Trump told Axios he raged at Netanyahu after Israel struck Beirut’s southern suburbs on Sunday, killing three people, in response to what it said was Hezbollah fire at northern Israel.

“Why did Bibi (Netanyahu) have to do a f***ing attack?” Trump told Axios. “I was so pissed off. I let him know. He has no f***ing judgement. I let him know that.”

Tehran insists that any agreement to halt the war must include the parallel conflict in Lebanon, where Israel has been pursuing a campaign against the Iran-backed movement Hezbollah.