Trump assures that Iranians are negotiating but “are afraid to say it”
Opinion (with AFP)
Tehran – Donald Trump assured that Tehran, despite its denials, is indeed participating in talks and wants an agreement to end the war, while Israel continued its strikes on Iran on Thursday. “They are negotiating, and they absolutely want to reach an agreement, but they are afraid to say it,” the American president said Wednesday night in front of a group of united Republican lawmakers in Washington. “They are also afraid of being killed,” he added, on the 27th day of a conflict that is engulfing the Middle East and threatening the global economy. Earlier on Wednesday, the White House had warned that Donald Trump was “ready to unleash hell” if Tehran made “another miscalculation.” No information is available on the Iranian leaders in charge of the negotiations mentioned by Washington. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi maintained that Iran has “no intention of negotiating” and intends to “continue to resist.” An American proposal to silence the weapons, which reportedly contains fifteen points, was transmitted to Iran through Islamabad, which has good relations with both countries, according to two senior Pakistani officials. “Sometimes messages can be transmitted […] but that cannot be considered as dialogue or negotiation,” Mr. Araghchi said on state television. Iran wants to “end the war on its own terms,” he emphasized. Diplomatic initiatives have multiplied in recent days in an attempt to end a war that has become “out of control,” according to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. So far, there have been no diplomatic openings, although Beijing said on Thursday that it sees “signals favoring negotiations” from both the United States and Iran. The conflict will be on the agenda of a meeting on Thursday in France of the G7 foreign ministers, who will be joined on Friday by the American Marco Rubio. “What worries me the most about this war is that there has been no consultation, no strategy, no clear objective, and, worst of all from my point of view, there is no exit strategy,” said German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, who is visiting Australia. Destroyed installations On the ground, attacks continue in both directions. On Thursday, the Israeli army said it had carried out “large-scale” strikes on unspecified infrastructure in several areas of Iran, including Isfahan in the center of the country. Israel also said it was the target of a new missile attack from Iran. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Bahrain, where energy infrastructure and American interests are regularly targeted, have also reported facing new attacks. The US military said it had damaged or destroyed “more than two-thirds” of Iranian drone and missile production facilities as well as Iranian shipyards, and “92%” of the Iranian fleet. Iran’s near-blocking of the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world’s oil normally transits, has caused a 60% increase in crude prices since the start of the Israeli-American attack on February 28. On Thursday, crude oil prices, both Brent, the global benchmark, and WTI, the American reference, rose again after a slight decline the day before, as Iran said it would allow the passage of ships from “non-hostile” countries. Japan, almost entirely dependent on oil transiting through the Strait of Hormuz, announced on Thursday that it would have to tap into its strategic reserves for the second time. Meanwhile, Israel continues its intervention against the pro-Iranian Hezbollah in Lebanon, where its strikes have displaced over a million people since the country entered the war. On Thursday, the Israeli army announced that one of its soldiers was seriously injured on Wednesday by a mortar shell fired towards its troops in Lebanon. AFP bureaus in Tehran, Jerusalem, Dubai, Baghdad, Beirut, and Washington © Agence France-Presse
