Trump says there are still no conditions for a deal with Iran

President of the United States, Donald Trump. Reuters US President Donald Trump warned that the conditions are still “not good enough” for a deal with Iran that would end the war. In an interview with NBC News, the American assured that Tehran wants to sit down to negotiate, but that Washington will continue with its offensive. “Iran wants to reach a deal, and I don’t want to do that because the conditions are not good enough yet,” Trump told the broadcaster. He also stated that he might again bomb targets in Iran’s main crude oil export hub, located on Kharg Island, “just for fun.” The Pentagon claims that more than 15,000 targets were hit in the country. After more than two weeks of war between the United States and Israel against the Islamic republic, neither party has moderated its rhetoric, despite the casualties, mainly in Iran, and the economic consequences of the war. Trump also said that American forces would intensify attacks on the Iranian coast, north of the Strait of Hormuz, to clear the way and allow oil shipments to resume. The Iranian blockade of this strait, through which a fifth of the world’s hydrocarbon production used to pass, has skyrocketed the price of oil. Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not yet been seen in public, promised in a written statement to keep Hormuz closed. But Trump suggested he may not be in charge of Iran. “I don’t know if he’s alive,” he said. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi assured that “there is no problem” with the new leader, who was apparently injured on the first day of the war. Donald Trump says he has already won the war with Iran New attacks from Israel The Israeli army announced this Sunday a new wave of attacks against targets in western Iran, after the Iranian Revolutionary Guard described Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a criminal and vowed to persecute and kill him. The Iranian military said it had launched drone strikes against a major police unit and a satellite communications center in Israel. The war began on February 28, when attacks by the United States and Israel took the life of former supreme leader Ali Khamenei, Mojtaba’s father. For the first time since then, Tehran experienced a relatively normal business day this Sunday, with heavier traffic than last week and some cafes and restaurants open. In Tayrish Bazaar, a popular shopping center in the northern part of the capital, more than a third of shops reopened five days before Noruz, the Persian New Year. Some customers waited in front of ATMs to withdraw money. There were also people at bus stops, which had been practically deserted since the start of the war. Escort of ships in Hormuz Trump has proposed an international naval operation to escort oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, which would reduce pressure on the price of oil and guarantee supplies to countries whose economies are most exposed to the conflict. “Hopefully, China, France, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom and others who are affected by this artificial restriction will send ships to the region,” Trump said Saturday on social media. Many countries appear hesitant. The UK Ministry of Defense said it was “looking into” the issue, as did South Korea and Japan, which did not provide a clear statement. Iran’s Foreign Minister called on other countries to avoid any action that could escalate the war, in a conversation with his French counterpart, Jean-Noël Barrot. Missile rain Bahrain and Saudi Arabia claimed to have intercepted new projectiles. In Manama, an AFP journalist heard warning sirens. On Saturday night, Dubai authorities also reported new air defense interceptions. On Friday, American forces attacked the island of Khark, from which almost all of Iran’s oil exports flow. But both sides confirmed that the attacks destroyed only military defenses and left crude oil export terminals intact. More than 1,200 people died as a result of attacks by the United States and Israel, according to figures from the Iranian Ministry of Health, which could not be independently verified. The UN refugee agency says up to 3.2 million people have been displaced in Iran.

Source link