EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France, June 17 - U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters on Wednesday that sanctions imposed on Iran could be lifted if the country "behave[s]." Speaking at an event in Evian-les-Bains, he described the effect of sanctions and set a condition for their removal.
"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," he said.
In the same remarks, the president addressed funds that have been frozen. He characterized those assets as belonging to Iran and said the United States had restricted access to them.
"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," he said, adding a concern about longer-term investor confidence in the U.S. currency: "If we didn’t give it back, nobody would ever invest in the dollar again."
The comments combined a description of the humanitarian and economic impact of sustained sanctions with a promise that sanctions could be rescinded contingent on a change in behavior by Iran. They also raised the question of returning frozen assets and linked that action to perceptions of the dollar among investors.
Below are the central elements of the president's statements and the immediate lines of emphasis he offered:
- Sanctions are being used to restrict Iran's ability to rebuild and are creating severe economic pressure, according to the president's remarks.
- The conditions for lifting those measures were framed in behavioral terms - the sanctions would be removed "as soon as they behave."
- The president suggested a timeline for returning frozen funds could be driven by broader market confidence, saying a failure to return assets could damage willingness to invest in the dollar.
The remarks do not specify precise benchmarks for what constitutes the required change in behavior, nor do they lay out a timetable for any reversal of sanctions or for the transfer of frozen funds. The statements were delivered directly to reporters at the location in France.
Separately, some promotional copy included in the original briefing emphasized the value of data in investment decisions, arguing that better information can help investors avoid costly mistakes and that institutional-grade data combined with accessible insights can improve investment selection. That copy posed a rhetorical question about current portfolio choices and included a reference to a limited-time pricing offer.