US News Outlets Question Trump’s Narrative on Iran Deal

Washington: Pre-war objectives abandoned, Iran's power bolstered, tens of billions of dollars guzzled away: US media appear unanimous in condemning Donald Trump's concessions to Iran in a deal meant to end the war.

The US president put his signature to a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday at a candlelit dinner outside Paris, aiming to draw a line under the war which has engulfed the Middle East and rocked the global economy.

But Trump's return to the United States on Thursday is set to bring him back to reality, with a barrage of criticism expected from both opponents and supporters of the conflict.

Even Fox News, the usually Trump-friendly news channel, cited critics who said the agreement gave Iran "huge financial benefits" without requiring the dismantlement of its nuclear program.

The deal is only a temporary arrangement meant to give time for starting detailed negotiations on the far more complex issue of long-term control over the nuclear power ambitions of Iran, which Washington has long suspected of harboring a secret bomb-making program.

Once a final agreement is reached on the Islamic republic's nuclear program, the United States will facilitate the release of a $300 billion reconstruction fund supported by regional nations, according to the deal.

Messaging from Trump's inner circle looks unlikely to sway Fox News in giving significant airtime to criticism of the deal.

"Despite the administration portraying the agreement as a breakthrough, critics have argued that the concessions offered to Iran far outweigh the commitments secured in return," Fox said.

Left-leaning US TV network MS NOW put it this way: "The White House agreed to this ceasefire extension that met none of its prewar objectives while providing enormous financial concessions to Tehran."

"Now, the administration is desperately trying to argue otherwise. Quite simply, Trump got played by the Iranians, and no one is buying his spin job."

- 'Nothing like a surrender' -

The agreement is "widely seen as the biggest foreign-policy bet of the president's second term," according to the Wall Street Journal, which noted Trump "will face resistance from Iran policy hawks who say the president is giving up far more than he is getting."

Even the signing of the deal appeared to fall into disarray, with the business daily reporting that Trump inked the agreement for a second time on Wednesday night, surprising some of his aides and derailing plans for a signing ceremony later this week.

The New York Times, meanwhile, said Iran could emerge from the conflict with "much to celebrate," noting that the agreement "read nothing like a surrender document."

The Islamic republic "proved they can use economic chaos as a weapon," the Times said.

At the start of the conflict, which began with US-Israeli strikes on Tehran on February 28, Trump spoke of the possibility that the Iranian regime could collapse.

"If anything, Mr. Trump has propped up the new leadership," the newspaper said.

Worse still, Tehran could be closer than ever before to pushing for a nuclear weapon, it added.

"For more than two decades Iran walked right up to the edge of building a nuclear bomb, but never stepped over the line," the Times said.

"When Iran's leaders begin to clear the rubble left by 40 days of bombing, and think about how to spend the billions in oil revenue that will soon resume, they may well question whether they had the right nuclear strategy."

National Public Radio (NPR) -- whose funding Trump tried to cut before a judge blocked his order -- stressed the human toll of the war, which "pitted the world's most powerful military against a far weaker, yet strategically adept, adversary."