At a G7 summit dominated by the US-Iran agreement, American President Donald Trump delivered a series of striking statements on Tuesday that mentioned Israel, Iran, Lebanon, Syria and the Strait of Hormuz.
From saying Israel could not survive without US support to again suggesting that Syria should take on Hezbollah in Lebanon, his remarks offered insights on his foreign policy vision for the Middle East.
Here are five key takeaways from Mr Trump's exchanges with the media during meetings with world leaders in Evian-les-Bains, eastern France.
US and Israel
Mr Trump publicly rebuked Israel over its strike on Beirut shortly before Washington announced its agreement with Iran. He said he “didn't like” the attack and had communicated his concerns to Israeli officials.
He also issued rare criticism of Israel's attacks on civilians in Lebanon, saying: “Israel's fighting Hezbollah too long and too many people are being killed, and you don't have to knock down an apartment house every time you're looking for somebody, because there are a lot of people in those apartment houses, and they're not all Hezbollah, that I can tell you.”
He then delivered one of his strongest assertions of US leverage over Israel. “Without us, without the United States, there would be no Israel. Without me, there would be no Israel,” he said.
'No rush' on uranium
Mr Trump said the US would eventually recover and destroy Iran's highly enriched uranium stockpile, but repeatedly stressed there was “no rush” to do so.
“We're in no rush,” Mr Trump said, arguing that recovering the material would require a difficult excavation operation following US strikes.
“It's a very tough excavation. Nobody else can do it but us, and probably China. They have the equipment, we have the equipment. We're in no rush, but we'll get it, and when we get it, we'll destroy it,” he said.
Syria and Hezbollah
Reviving a proposal he had floated before, Mr Trump suggested Syria could take responsibility for dealing with Hezbollah and indicated that he had raised the idea with Syrian President Ahmad Al Shara.
“I suggested to Israel to let Syria take care of Hezbollah because, to be honest, I think they do a better job of doing it,” said Mr Trump.
“He is very good with Hezbollah, does not like them,” Mr Trump added, referring to Mr Al Shara. “If Israel can't do the job without killing everyone else, he'll do the job. Syria will do the job.”
Regime changes 'never work'
Mr Trump said he did not support regime change in Iran and praised the Iranian officials negotiating with Washington as “rational” and “very smart”.
The comments were in contrast to the early stages of the conflict, when he appeared to be making regime change in Iran a priority for the war.
“I don't believe in regime change. I've watched regime changes for years and they never work,” he clarified.
Toll-free strait
Mr Trump declared that the Strait of Hormuz would be fully open by Friday and repeatedly emphasised that ships would pass through “toll-free”.
“We're going to have it fully open by Friday. The ships are starting to move nicely. Oil is starting to go, and the prices are coming down rapidly,” Mr Trump told reporters.
“The strait is going to be open toll-free, and it's toll-free beyond the 60 days. It's not that somebody said: 'Oh, it's toll free for 60 days.' No, no, it's toll free. Period.”
