TEHRAN – U.S. President Donald arrived in Egypt Monday evening, essentially on a victory lap to celebrate what he claimed no one else could have achieved: a ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel, but one that virtually no one believes Israel can be expected to comply with in the long run.

Before landing in Sharm el-Sheikh where he was set to co-chair, with Egypt’s President el-Sisi, an international summit on the deal, Trump sent invitations to several countries worldwide. Among these was Iran, a nation the president likely hoped would attend but ultimately declined.

In a post on X, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi explained why he and his colleagues decided not to turn up at the event. “Iran thanks [Egyptian President Abdel Fattah] el-Sisi for his invitation to attend the Sharm El-Sheikh summit. Despite favoring diplomatic interaction, neither [Iranian President Masoud] Pezeshkina nor I am able to engage with those who attacked Iranian people and keep threatening and imposing sanctions on us,” he explained. 

On June 13, Israel launched a blatant and unprovoked act of aggression against Iran, triggering a 12-day war that killed at least 1,064 people in the country, including military commanders, nuclear scientists, and ordinary civilians.

The United States also entered the war by bombing three Iranian nuclear sites in a grave violation of international law.

In response, the Iranian Armed Forces targeted strategic sites across the occupied territories as well as the al-Udeid air base in Qatar, the largest American military base in West Asia.

After the war, Washington successfully orchestrated the 'snapback' of anti-Iran UN sanctions. The move plunged Iran's currency market into chaos, further escalating inflation rates in a country already battling years of runaway inflation, a direct result of prior sanctions.

“Still, Iran welcomes any initiative that would end the genocide in Gaza and lead to the expulsion of the occupying forces,” Araghchi added in his post on X.  “Palestinians are completely entitled to enjoy the right to self-determination and all countries have a duty, more than ever before, to support them achieve this legal and legitimate demand.”

Also addressing Iran’s absence from summit, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmail Baghaei stressed that a country’s regional role “is not measured by mere attendance.”

“Iran’s regional influence is far greater than participation in any single event. Over the past two years, Iran has been among the most active countries pressuring the Zionist regime and its allies to end the genocide,” he said, citing Tehran’s diplomatic engagements through the UN, the OIC, and regional forums.

The Sharm al-Sheikh summit was designed to formalize the ceasefire and lay out reconstruction and governance steps. It came after two years of U.S.-Israeli genocide in Gaza that killed around 70,000 people, injured many more, and left much of the territory in ruins.

In remarks delivered to the Israeli Knesset before the event, Trump made no mention of the Israeli bloodshed, only thanking Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the “courage” he showed during the war. He added that Netanyahu constantly asked him for weapons during the Gaza onslaught, including some he had “never heard of”. Among the vast carnage in Gaza, at least 20,000 of them are children. 

The president also talked about the illegal U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran. "Because of us, the enemies of all civilization are in retreat, thanks to the bravery and skill of the Israeli defense forces and Operation Rising Lion," he said. The American leader then claimed he is ready for a deal. "Iran, we are ready when you are and it will be the best decision Iran has ever made, and it’s gonna happen.”

For those that have been chronicling the war in Gaza or Trump’s engagements with Iran, none of the proclamations he made at the Israeli Knesset seemed to hold water. Trump was in the middle of negotiations with Iranians when he attacked them in June, and has refused to force Israel to address the rights of Palestinians in the ceasefire deal he brokered. 

“What Trump wants is not the end of Israel’s manslaughter in Gaza. Nor does he want a peaceful deal with Iran,” wrote Farhikhtegan, a leading Iranian daily published in Persian. “He wants a show where he gets to stand in the spotlight. Attention and praise are his ultimate needs, even in diplomacy.”