‘Don’t always see eye to eye’: Netanyahu distances himself from Trump’s Iran deal

Washington: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he and US President Donald Trump don’t always see “eye to eye” in his first remarks since the US and Iran agreed on a provisional peace deal – which American officials insist Israel will come to accept.

Netanyahu also said Israeli troops would remain in the “security zone” they had established inside Lebanon and confirmed he would run again in elections due to be held by October. “The struggle has not finished yet.”

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The Israeli leader declined to criticise the deal explicitly, but distanced himself from it, saying that he privately expressed his opinion and it was Trump’s decision.

“On the other hand, we have our own interests – first of all, regarding the nuclear threat. I am committed that there will not be such a threat facing us,” he told reporters.

Speaking about Trump, Netanyahu said: “He is the president of the United States, I am the prime minister of Israel. We many times see eye-to-eye, and there are times when we see eye-to-eye less so.”

Hard-right Israeli ministers have strongly criticised the deal – the text of which has not been released publicly – including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who called it “bad for Israel and for the entire free world, period”.

US Vice President JD Vance acknowledged America and Israel sometimes had different interests, but said the deal was good for Israel and he was “quite confident” the country would buy into the agreement.

As Trump headed to the G7 in France, Vance – who led negotiations for the US side – was left to explain the deal to Americans in numerous television appearances.

He and other American officials revealed that under the memorandum of understanding, the Strait of Hormuz will be opened toll-free for 60 days, but its longer-term operation will be subject to regional negotiations.

It is one of many unresolved issues to be worked through over the next two months after the deal was signed electronically on Sunday (US time) by Trump, Vance and Iranian parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

It is expected to be signed in person on Friday in Geneva, Switzerland, with both Vance and Ghalibaf to attend. The text has been kept secret, but American officials said it would be made public upon signing, or before.

Vance moved to clarify aspects of the deal on Monday as he combatted “propaganda” from hardliners in Iran being aired by state-affiliated media.

Specifically, he said it was not true that Iran would immediately receive $US24 billion ($34 billion) of its frozen assets, nor would American taxpayers tip in cash to help rebuild the country.

“Iran doesn’t get a dime of money unless they perform their obligations,” Vance told ABC’s Good Morning America. “The money that we’re talking about is fundamentally sanctions relief. Not a single dollar of American money will go to Iran.”

He denied Iran would receive $US300 billion in compensation, but acknowledged the agreement envisaged a large investment and reconstruction fund that Vance said would come from Gulf countries, and was contingent on Iran fulfilling its obligations.

He also acknowledged there were questions over the long-term operation of the Strait of Hormuz – the key shipping route linking the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman, through which more than a fifth of the world’s oil supply usually transits.

“Our expectation is that the strait is going to be opened in a toll-free way for the long term. That’s the sort of thing we’re going to figure out in these technical negotiations,” Vance told CNBC television. “There are a lot of very important details to figure out.”

Meanwhile, Iran’s Fars news agency reported that Iran and Oman intended to impose service fees in the strait after the 60-day period, citing a press conference by foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baqaei on Monday.

On a conference call with reporters, senior US officials said the long-term future of the strait would be decided after broader talks involving regional partners.

“The memorandum is explicit – the strait will remain open and toll-free for 60 days,” a senior US official said. “Our expectation is that this principle will remain part of any final agreement.”

Another senior official said: “With regards to the end-state, there will be a regional dialogue around what will happen – there’s no tolls or charges during the time of this MOU.

“The goal here is to create a mechanism that makes it impossible that it will ever be closed again, and done in a way that obviously protects all the different interests in the region.”

Both officials noted that traffic in the strait was already increasing. One person said they expected the number of ships navigating the passage to immediately climb to 40 or 50 a day, before it was “fully open” by Friday.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian described the memorandum of understanding as an important step towards stopping the war and beginning negotiations, noting a final agreement “has yet to take shape”.

Iran was prepared for all options, Pezeshkian said on X, and had learnt “not to submit to humiliation”. But if properly implemented, the deal would be a “document of pride” for Iran.

Trump, who left Washington for the G7 immediately after hosting a UFC function at the White House, told reporters in Evian it was unlikely he would stay in Europe to sign the deal in person.

He pledged that the text of the MOU would be made public “pretty soon”, though he indicated it may not be until after Friday’s ceremony. “I want it to be released because it’s a very powerful document,” Trump said.

On the conference call, senior officials said the text would demonstrate the US was prepared to release frozen Iranian assets, and relieve sanctions, and that some “small gestures” would be provided up front if Iran demonstrated goodwill.

They also spoke of how the American negotiators had soured on Oman during the talks and cut them out of the process, with one person describing the Omanis as “very duplicitous”.

Trump at one point threatened to bomb Oman if it tried to impose tolls in or around the Strait of Hormuz.

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