Trump warns of military action as US and Iran resume ceasefire talks
Trump warns of military action as US and Iran resume ceasefire talks
Trump warns of military action as US and Iran resume ceasefire talks
President Donald Trump has warned that he is prepared to order strong military action against Iran if negotiations fail, as the US and Iran resume ceasefire talks. According to Trump, the US is in very deep talks with Iran, and if they don't work out, the US will go back to very strong military action.
The warning comes as mediators led by Qatar and Pakistan are working to bridge the gap between Washington and Tehran to return to an interim ceasefire deal that had collapsed after the exchanges of fire. The US has paused attacks after targeting Iranian coastal areas and infrastructure in a nearly two-week escalation sparked by Iran's firing at ships trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for global oil shipments.
Trump said that mediating countries urged him to hold fire during the three-night pause, and he believes Tehran wants an agreement. The US president is scheduled to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Tuesday as talks focus on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and restarting negotiations over Iran's nuclear program.
Meanwhile, Iran and Ukraine have been publicly feuding since Ukraine fired on at least one Iranian vessel in the Caspian Sea over the weekend. Iran, which said a sailor had been killed in the attack, is an important ally of Russia in its war against Ukraine, helping Moscow build up its drone expertise.
Saudi Arabia said it had shot down drones fired by Iran-backed militias in Iraq that had targeted its petroleum facilities. Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen meanwhile claimed to have attacked Saudi oil facilities as part of a separate but related conflict. It was unclear if they referred to the same attack.
Two drone attacks were reported against a Kurdish Iranian dissident group in Iraq, and Jordan said it had shot down two drones, without saying where they originated. There were no reports of casualties or damage.
Despite the scattered attacks, mediators have achieved progress in getting the US and Iran back to negotiations, according to regional officials. The objective is for Iran and Oman, which lies on the other side of the Strait of Hormuz, to develop mechanisms to ensure safe navigation through the waterway while respecting the sovereign rights and sovereignty of both coastal states, as well as Iran's security and national interests.
The US military on Saturday said its recently reimposed naval blockade against Iran continued, with a dozen commercial ships redirected, two disabled and two boarded. The 60-day period established by the interim deal in mid-June is now well into its second half, and major issues that were meant to be negotiated — notably Iran's nuclear program at the heart of tensions — have been set aside as mediators try to keep both sides talking.
Global energy supplies and the economy remain in the balance as gasoline prices have risen again. Commercial shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz was at a three-week low, a maritime body overseen by the US Navy said Sunday, adding that no new attacks had been confirmed in the past 72 hours.
President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has proposed to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to "freeze the conflict" with Ukraine, considering it not a civil war, but an international conflict. Tokayev's statements indicate that they came from the US with a demand to repeat them publicly to Putin, as a response to the ongoing attacks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), which has forced Kazakhstan to stop the shipment of oil.
