President Trump said in an interview on Sunday afternoon that the agreement he had reached with Iran would ultimately assure that the Strait of Hormuz was \u201cpermanently toll-free,\u201d and asserted that, despite the objections of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, he had saved Israel from nuclear obliteration.<\/p>\n
Mr. Trump also insisted that if Iran failed to reach a final nuclear accord with the United States \u2014 a process that his aides say they expect will begin on Friday in Switzerland \u2014 he would restart military attacks on Tehran or make the United States \u201cthe guardian of the Middle East\u201d in return for 20 percent of the region\u2019s revenues.<\/p>\n
In a 28-minute phone conversation that Mr. Trump initiated from the White House residence, and a brief follow-up call, the president contended that his decision to attack Iran in late February, and his subsequent naval blockade of its ports after Tehran closed the strait, had remade the Middle East in America\u2019s favor.<\/p>\n
Speaking on his 80th birthday, as his family could be heard gathering in the background for a celebratory dinner, he praised two authoritarians \u2014 Presidents Xi Jinping of China and Vladimir V. Putin of Russia \u2014 for aiding in the settlement, or at least not interfering in the blockade of the Strait.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was a total gentleman,\u201d Mr. Trump said of Mr. Xi, whom he visited in China last month. \u201cHe didn\u2019t send a tanker, along with 20 destroyers on each side of it, to try and break up the blockade,\u201d an act that would have put the Chinese and American navies into potential conflict.<\/p>\n
But he excoriated Mr. Netanyahu for mounting attacks that nearly derailed the final agreement.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a very difficult guy,\u201d Mr. Trump said of the Israeli prime minister, \u201cand to be honest with you, he should be very thankful to us for doing this. Because if Iran had a nuclear weapon, Israel wouldn\u2019t be around for two hours.\u201d<\/p>\n
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