In the absence of a peace agreement with Iran, the United States was set to strike Iran’s energy infrastructure on Saturday. On his Truth Social account, Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he was pushing back the deadline to April 6 to allow more time for negotiations. “Again,” noted the Huff Post. This is the second time in a week that he has postponed his threats. Last weekend, he gave Iran forty-eight hours, then an additional five days on Monday.
The American president later explained in an interview on Fox News, “They asked me, very nicely, through my team: could we have more time? They asked for seven days. And I said ‘I’ll give you ten’ because they provided me with ships,” he added, referring to the ten ships that the Iranians allegedly allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. However, The Wall Street Journal reports that, according to conflict mediators, Iran did not request a pause on the strikes.
“It’s what we’ve seen since the beginning of the war, Trump saying something in the morning and something completely different later,” observed Al-Jazeera. “This shows, in a way, that the Trump administration is under pressure, because of gasoline prices in the country and the significant impact they have had on his popularity rating,” estimated the Qatari media outlet.
The New York Times noted that the announcement from the White House came just minutes after Wall Street had one of its worst days of the year. “This timing cannot be ignored, given the president’s interest in the financial markets,” the newspaper said. The paper also considered that the conflict is “testing the limits of his unorthodox diplomatic style. The war is lasting longer than what Mr. Trump seems to have anticipated, and he appears to be seeking a diplomatic solution while threatening escalation.”
Les tensions continuent au Liban
The Pentagon is reportedly considering sending military equipment originally from Ukraine to the Middle East, as reported by The Washington Post. An additional 10,000 soldiers could also be deployed in the region.
On his way to the G7 Foreign Ministers’ meeting in France, Marco Rubio highlighted that “it is in the interest of other nations to help the United States reopen the Strait of Hormuz,” reported CNN. “I’m not going down there to make them happy. The people I want to make happy are the residents of the United States,” responded the Secretary of State when asked about the reception he expected in the current context.
Another actor in the conflict, Israel, described as “the most powerful military nation in the region” by El Mundo, is reportedly dealing with a shortage of personnel. An army spokesperson mentioned the need for reinforcements in Gaza, the West Bank, and southern Lebanon facing Hezbollah, a militia allied with Iran.
Lebanon has lodged a complaint with the UN Security Council to denounce Israeli attacks, which “threaten” its sovereignty. “Israel is increasingly encroaching on southern Lebanon territory. Over the past two days, its army has gained ground in the eastern sector of the border, where it was on Thursday, nearly eight kilometers deep into Lebanese territory. This advance, achieved in just over three weeks, is much faster than the ground offensive in the fall of 2024,” noted L’Orient-Le Jour.
