President Trump on Monday said he is confident the U.S.-Iran peace deal will transform the Middle East and cause oil prices to plummet immediately.
Mr. Trump, speaking at the Group of Seven meetings in France, said he signed the memorandum of understanding late Sunday to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and set the table for limiting Iran’s nuclear program.
“I think a lot of great things are going to happen in the Middle East right now,” Mr. Trump said during a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron. “Ships are starting to go out now [in the strait]. On Friday, it will be completely open.”
Teams from the U.S. and Iran plan to sign the memo in public on Friday in Geneva, Switzerland. The deal sets a 60-day timeline to grapple with Iran’s nuclear program, while easing pressures in the strait and lifting the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports.
Mr. Trump said Iran would be constrained from ever getting a nuclear weapon and would not see sanctions relief until it meets U.S. demands.
“It’s really a behavioral thing,” Mr. Trump said.
Stocks surged after Mr. Trump signed the memo, and oil prices dropped to below $80 per barrel.
Although Mr. Trump signed the memo, the president said he did not expect the text to be released publicly until Friday or later.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the deal was a “very important step toward peace.”
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