As the US and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding, President Trump said he has no problem with Iran possessing ballistic missiles—even though America’s “ironclad” ally Israel is firmly against it.
Speaking to reporters after the G7 summit in France on the 17th, Trump argued, “If other countries have ballistic missiles, and Iran doesn’t, that’s a bit unfair to Iran.” He added, “If Saudi Arabia and Qatar have them—and they do, some of them—then proportionally, yeah, Iran should have them too.”
On the same day, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson made it clear: “Our defensive capabilities and missile program are not up for negotiation. We won’t discuss them with anyone, in any process, ever.”
This is a huge shift from Trump’s earlier stance, according to Reuters. Ever since the US and Israel launched military strikes against Iran back in late February, Trump repeatedly claimed one of the goals was to wipe out Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities. In late March, his administration reportedly handed Tehran a “15-point plan” to end the conflict, which demanded limits on the number and range of Iran’s missiles and a promise to never develop nukes. But wait—the final text of the US-Iran memorandum, revealed by a senior US official on the 17th, doesn’t even mention Iranian ballistic missiles.
Political analysts suggest that while the US and Israel may claim military success against Iran, it could actually be a strategic failure. This war, supposedly aimed at “toppling the Iranian regime and eliminating its nuclear and missile capabilities,” might end up making Iran stronger instead.
