Trump says Iran deal is to avert ‘economic catastrophe’ as he doesn’t want to end up becoming ‘Herbert Hoover’

President Donald Trump stated that he was driven to finalize a memorandum of understanding with Iran to avoid what he described as an “economic catastrophe.” Speaking on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Évian, France, the president explained that his primary motivation for securing the deal was to prevent a scenario that could lead to a depression, ABC News reported. He specifically referenced the 31st president, Herbert Hoover, whose policies are often linked to the start of the Great Depression, as a figure he did not want to emulate.

The president noted that the stock market reacted positively whenever peace talks were on the table. “So rather than possibly going into a depression, rather than having your favorite president be Herbert Hoover, he was always the one I didn’t want to be,” Trump said. He further emphasized his desire to avoid economic fallout, stating, “I didn’t want to see economic catastrophe. If you kept this going, that could have happened. But all I know is, every time we talked about the possibility of peace, the stock market shot up like a rocket ship.”

While the president held a lengthy press conference to discuss these developments, the specific details of the agreement remain somewhat vague. The United States maintains that the memorandum of understanding was signed on Wednesday night in France.

It remains to be seen what the final version of the memorandum looks like

As the president spoke to the media, senior U.S. officials read the agreement aloud to reporters, though the White House has not yet published the official text of the deal. Throughout his remarks, the president described the agreement as both historic and strong, though he also explicitly left the door open to military action if Iran fails to follow the terms.

“If it doesn’t get done in 60 days, it’s all right. We go back to bombing. You know, I don’t want to do that because it’s so good. But, we might have to because we’re never going to let them have a nuclear weapon, but they’ve agreed not to. And you’ll see that very clearly in the agreement,” Trump said.

One of the more interesting aspects of the president’s comments involved Iran’s ballistic missile program. Trump indicated that he is open to allowing Iran to keep its stockpile, arguing that it is unfair to deny them weapons that neighboring countries already possess. He explained that he finds it difficult to articulate a policy that restricts Iran from having missiles while their neighbors, such as Saudi Arabia, are permitted to maintain their own.

“We’ll be working on a parallel effort with the Gulf nations to address non-nuclear issues, such as the conventional ballistic missiles,” Trump stated. When discussing the fairness of the situation, he added, “I mean, they have to have some because other people have some. You’ve got to have some. ‘Sir, you shouldn’t let them have any missiles.’ I said, ‘Well, what am I going to do? I’m going to let Saudi Arabia have missiles, but they can’t have them?’ ‘Yes, sir.’ It can’t — doesn’t work that way.”

Later in the day, the president doubled down on this position. He clarified his stance by saying, “If other countries have them, it’s a little bit unfair for [Iran] not to have some.” He also distinguished between ballistic missiles and nuclear capabilities, suggesting that in terms of relative proportion, he believes it is acceptable for Iran to maintain a missile stockpile.

When asked about enforcement mechanisms within the agreement, the president argued that the memorandum does not need specific legal language regarding punishments. Instead, he suggested that the United States would simply resume bombing if Iran were to violate the terms by pursuing a nuclear weapon.

“Does it have to be?” Trump said, when asked about enforceable terms. “I let him know. I said, ‘Look, if you don’t adhere to the agreement, I don’t want to do that, but we’re going to bomb the hell out of you,’ and I don’t think that they’re going to veer from the agreement.” He dismissed the idea of legal action, stating that he would rather rely on direct military threats to ensure compliance.

Regarding the future of Iran’s nuclear program for civilian purposes, the president appeared to soften his stance. While he noted that he has consistently challenged Iran on why they need nuclear technology given their massive oil reserves, he acknowledged that other countries in the region are pursuing nuclear electricity.

“You know, it’s also, it is a little hard though when you say that somebody wants—other people have it, other adjoining states have it and you’re not letting them have it for purposes of electricity and things like that. It’s always a little tough. You have to use a little common sense,” he said.