CNN host Omar Jimenez halted their news coverage for an update amid the US-Israeli conflict in Iran. In a major U-turn the US and Iran have agreed a deal to end the war, which mediator Pakistan says will be signed on Friday in Switzerland. Donald Trump says the Strait of Hormuz will be reopened and the US naval blockade of Iran will end.
The deal includes an end to “military operations” in Lebanon, which has welcomed it. However, Israel says its forces will remain in the country indefinitely. In Iran, the agreement is being framed as a victory for Tehran and a defeat for the US and Israel. While many praised an end to the conflict, the president faces a humiliating blow, according to Congressman Adam Smith of the Democrats, who addressed the bombshell news.
Omar asked: “How are you assessing things right now?” The Democrat representative admitted the end to the war with Iran is a “huge positive”.
But in a devastating blow to Trump, Adam continued: “I think it’s worth noting, it makes it clear that this war accompolished nothing for the US.
It put us right back where we were on February 27 and now in a worst shape when fighting to open the Strait of Hormuz. It really points out the folly of starting this war in the first place but ending it should be the priority now.”
Adam blasted the war as a “stupid mistake” on Trump’s part.
“Iran is a problem. There is no doubt about it,” Congressman Smith explained, “They support terrorist organisations throughout the region. Also, their ballistic missile programme. We would love all of that to go away.
He went on: “But we don’t really have a path in making it go away.
“President [Barack] Obama already said, ‘Iran is a problem. I’d rather have Iran be a problem without a nuclear weapon than be a problem with a nuclear weapon.’ So we cut that deal and Trump stupidly tore it up.”
Adam suggested Trump is now “limping back” to a similar agreement Obama had already proposed and had drawn up with Iran.
He said: “We have put ourselves in a weaker position and I believe part of it – people talk about Trump Derangement Syndrome. I think Trump had Obama Derangement Syndrome. Whatever Obama was for, he had to be against.”
The Congressman added that the US weaker now than they were at the start of the war.
