It was a busy weekend in the Middle East but the good news is that Trump still appears to be trying to forge a deal.
He said he was unhappy that Israel had struck the southern suburbs of Beirut and Iran firing missiles at Israel.
About 90 minutes ago Iran fired missiles at Israel in response to Israel striking Beirut, followed by a second wave. Iran said it targeted Ramat David air base. There have been reports that Israel intends to respond but Trump encouraged them not to. At the same time, Iran said that the attack was a warning and that it would be broader if Israel continues to strike Beirut. They noted that the ceasefire was conditional from the outset on cessation of fire on all fronts.
A short time after that unfolded Trump spoke to Fox News (followed by Axios) and said:
- What I would suggest to Iran is, you’ve shot your missiles and now that’s enough
- Get back to the table and make a deal
- We’re close to a deal
- Would have said a deal would be signed on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday and now this happens
- On Israel striking Beirut “I’m not happy about it”
- Says he’s going to call Netanyahu and tell him not to strike back
- Iranian strikes didn’t hurt anybody, hopefully Israel is not going to strike back
- If Netanyahu strikes them back it’s just going to keep going like the last 47 years, or 3000 years
- We are very close to a deal with Iran, I don’t want it to blow up because of what is happening now
So the questions now are, does Bibi want a deal? Or is Trump telling the truth?
This all sounds like every other mess in the Middle East forever as there is seemingly no end, no way out and not enough people working for peace. However, in terms of markets I’d take these comments as good news as Trump continues to want to get Hormuz open.
