Speaking to reporters in Evian-les-Bains, France on Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump indicated that economic sanctions placed on Iran would eventually be lifted — but only after the country changes its behavior.
“As far as sanctions are concerned, at some point, you know, we have sanctions which will never let them rebuild. They would have no money, they would be in poverty, the 91 million people would starve, so something will happen as soon as they behave. When they behave, we’re going to let that go. We’re going to have to. I put sanctions on a lot of people, and then I let them go,” Trump told reporters.
Beyond the sanctions themselves, Trump also floated the possibility that frozen Iranian assets could eventually be returned to the country.
“We have taken their money, it’s not our money, it’s their money, and we froze it. At a certain point in time I guess we’re going to have to give it back,” Trump said. “If we didn’t give it back, nobody would ever invest in the dollar again.”
