Trump vows ‘deal with Iran within four weeks’ if reelected

President Trump promised supporters at a campaign fundraiser in New Jersey that he would reach a quick deal with Iran if reelected.

“When we win,” Trump said in a video from the fundraiser on Sunday shared by a Jewish Insider reporter, “we will have a deal within four weeks.”

In video circulating on WhatsApp of the private Trump fundraiser at home of the late Stanley Chera in Long Branch, the president repeats for zillionth time the Jerusalem embassy story pic.twitter.com/cXgKVHoEEv

— Jacob Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) August 10, 2020

Some members of the crowd rose to their feet and cheered after Trump’s remarks. 

Tensions between the U.S. and Iran have escalated since Trump pulled out the 2015 nuclear deal the Obama administration and five other nations struck with Tehran to reduce its uranium stockpile in exchange for a lifting of economic sanctions.

In 2018, Trump announced the United States’ withdrawal from the deal and the reimposition of sanctions, a move criticized by the United Nations, the European Union and key Democrats and supported by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Saudi Arabia.

The tensions came to a boiling point in January when a U.S. drone strike killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, and Iran retaliated by firing ballistic missiles at an Iraqi base housing U.S. forces.

Trump’s proclamation comes as the U.S. is planning to introduce a resolution at the United Nations to extend an arms embargo against Iran — a move experts say is likely to fail.

If the effort is unsuccessful, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said the U.S. could trigger snapback sanctions, resetting Trump’s Iran policy back to pre-2015 sanctions, which would effectively kill the Obama-era agreement.

Trump promised a new Iran deal to supporters at the house of his late friend Stanley Chera, who died due to complications with COVID-19 in April, according to the Asbury Park Press.

In video, attendees at the outdoor fundraiser did not wear masks.

The Hill has requested comment from the White House on Trump’s remarks.

–This report was updated at 2:57 p.m.