The U.S. military said Monday that it carried out “self-defense” strikes in southern Iran, including on missile launch sites and boats placing mines, whilst President Donald Trump said on social media that negotiations with Tehran were “proceeding nicely.”
The strikes were done “to guard our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces,” however the military was “using restraint throughout the ongoing ceasefire,” Capt. Tim Hawkins, the spokesman for the U.S. military’s Central Command, said in an announcement.
Further details weren’t immediately available, including more specifics on the threats from Iran and what this implies for negotiations. There was no official response from Iran, which had sent its parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf to Qatar for negotiations over the possible cope with the U.S.
Qatar, which faced intense attacks from Iran throughout the war, holds billions of dollars in frozen Iranian funds.
In Iran, the news website Tabnak, believed to be near former Revolutionary Guard chief Mohsen Rezaei, identified 4 dead Guard troops it said had been killed in American strikes on boats. Iranian state television individually reported blasts around Bandar Abbas, a city on the Strait of Hormuz home to a military port and a dual-use airport.
The strikes were the newest attacks to shake the weekslong ceasefire within the war. The Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of all crude oil and natural gas traded once passed, stays effectively in Iran’s chokehold, disrupting global energy markets.
Trump brings up recognition of Israel
Earlier, Trump said any agreement to finish the Iran war should include a requirement for several additional countries, including Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, to affix the Abraham Accords, the U.S.-brokered agreements from Trump’s first term geared toward normalizing relations with Israel.
The proposal got here because the emerging Iran deal faced criticism from fellow Republicans who favor a harder line on Iran, and it could add latest diplomatic complications to the negotiations.
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Trump pointed to Saudi Arabia and Qatar as countries that ought to “immediately” sign on. Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates became the primary countries to affix in 2020, diplomatically recognizing Israel.
He wrote that “in any case the work done by the USA to attempt to pull this very complex puzzle together, it ought to be mandatory that each one of those Countries, at a minimum, concurrently, sign onto the Abraham Accords.”
Trump has long hoped Saudi Arabia would join. Saudi Arabia particularly has for a long time called on Israel to return to its 1967 borders and permit the formation of a Palestinian nation with east Jerusalem as its capital. Israel’s conduct within the war against Hamas within the Gaza Strip also has alienated Gulf Arab states and the broader Muslim world as well.
Pakistan stays key mediator
Recognition of a Palestinian state also stays key for Pakistan, which is among the many countries that don’t have diplomatic relations with Israel.
Islamabad-based analyst Syed Mohammad Ali said Pakistan’s position on Israel stays unchanged despite Trump’s latest proposal.
The president said he brought up the Abraham Accords plan with leaders during negotiations on Saturday. He said he would accept “one or two” countries declining to sign, but said most ought to be willing. Egypt and Jordan already formally recognize Israel and have long-standing peace treaties. Turkey first recognized Israel in 1949.
Masood Khan, Pakistan’s former ambassador to the USA, said it stays to be seen how workable the proposal may be for the countries on Trump’s list.
“The invocation of the Abraham Accords at this stage gives an altogether latest dimension to the diplomatic and mediatory processes because this issue was not on the agenda,” he said, pointing to the domestic pressure Trump is facing to strike a positive deal.
Still, Khan said, “the diplomatic track continues to be working, and I consider Pakistan may be very much at the middle of it, supported by regional countries.”
It stays unclear when or how any cope with Iran may be accomplished. Trump suggested even Iran could eventually sign on to the accords, if an agreement is reached.
The accords are a series of diplomatic, economic and security agreements created with U.S. influence during Trump’s first term, which also saw Sudan, Morocco, and, more recently, Kazakhstan, join.
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