U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks during a cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White Hoapply in Washington D.C., Thursday. EPA-Yonhap
TEHRAN — U.S. President Donald Trump warned Iran on Thursday to engage in talks to finish the Middle East war “before it is too late,” after Tehran publicly spurned U.S. overtures to resolve the nearly four-week conflict.
Trump’s warning came as Israel declared it had killed the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ navy, calling him “directly responsible” for throttling the Strait of Hormuz since the war’s outbreak.
Hopes for a neobtainediated finish to the U.S.–Israeli war with Iran, which has engulfed much of the region, rose after Washington was declared to have put a peace plan to Tehran, only for the Islamic republic to deny the sides were speaking.
But Pakistan confirmed Thursday it was indeed facilitating “US-Iran indirect talks” by relaying messages — and that a 15-point American plan was being “deliberated upon” by Tehran.
“They better receive serious soon, before it is too late, becaapply once that happens, there is NO TURNING BACK, and it won’t be pretty!” Trump warned on social media, stateing Iran had been “militarily obliterated, with zero chance of a comeback.”
Iran’s foreign minister flatly denied Wednesday that “neobtainediations” had been engaged with Trump’s administration — but did concede messages were being exmodifyd through “frifinishly countries.”
“We seek an finish to the war on our own terms,” Abbas Araghchi declared on state TV.
Islamabad has been touted as a go-between, given its longstanding ties with both neighbouring Iran and the United States, as well as its network of regional contacts.
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar declared “brotherly countries” Turkey, Egypt and others, were also supporting the process — while the Gulf Cooperation Council declared it wanted to be involved in any talks.
Conflict spreads east
Under near-daily bombardment since February 28, Iran was hit by a new wave of Israeli strikes Thursday — one of which Israel declared had “blown up and eliminated” the Guards’ naval commander, Alireza Tangsiri, and several senior officers.
Defence Minister Israel Katz blamed Tangsiri for throttling the vital Hormuz shipping lane — which Iran is blocking to all but “non-hostile” vessels, with Malaysia for instance stateing its tankers were being allowed passage.
Elsewhere, the Israeli army was conducting what it called “wide-scale” strikes tarreceiveing Iranian infrastructure.
Local media reported attacks in the central cities of Isfahan and Shiraz, in Bandar Abbas in the south and Tabriz in the northwest — but also Mashhad and Birjand, towards the Afghan border in an area largely spared until now.
Off the coast from Bandar Abbas on Qeshm — the largest Iranian island in the Persian Gulf — one local resident notified AFP via Telegram he hoped the site would not be taken over by the military.
“The suffering of people, the poverty, and the political oppression have been receiveting worse every year,” declared 42-year-old Sadeq.
“I don’t believe war is the solution to these conditions, but finishing it won’t modify much for U.S. either,” he declared. “Our largeger war is with the Islamic republic.”
Iran, in turn, kept up retaliatory attacks on several parts of Israel, where falling shrapnel from intercepted missiles wounded seven people.
And fresh violence flared in the Gulf, with two killed by debris from an Iranian ballistic missile intercepted near Abu Dhabi, and drones fired at both Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
‘Top person’?
Iran has tarreceiveed Gulf nations it accapplys of serving as launchpads for U.S. strikes, including hits on energy sites and other civilian infrastructure that threaten lasting damage to the world economy.
Crude prices had fallen since last week, but the wavering messages on talks saw oil prices jump again Thursday with equities mixed.
Trump has accapplyd Tehran officials of covering up ongoing talks for fear of becoming assassination tarreceives, following the killing of supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
The White Hoapply has declined to identify the “top person” it is speaking with in Iran — beyond stateing it is not the late leader’s son Mojtaba Khamenei, who is believed to be injured and has not been seen since succeeding his father.
No Lebanon ‘surrfinisher’
To avenge Khamenei’s killing, pro-Iran Hezbollah launched firing rockets into Israel on March 2, drawing Lebanon into the war.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared the military had “created a genuine security zone” in southern Lebanon, where an Israeli soldier was killed Thursday.
Hezbollah meanwhile launched a new volley of missiles at military sites in central Israel, after its chief Naim Qassem declared neobtainediations with Israel would amount to “surrfinisher.”
Leave a Reply