(AFP) – Iran’s foreign minister said Wednesday that “no tangible progress” has been made in negotiations to end the Middle East war as fresh US and Iranian strikes strained a fragile ceasefire. Kuwaiti officials reported that the renewed hostilities included an Iranian drone strike on a passenger terminal at Kuwait International Airport, resulting in one death and 63 injuries.
In contrast with the downbeat Iranian remarks, US President Donald Trump voiced optimism again, telling reporters at the White House, “it could happen… over the weekend.” “I hear the negotiation itself is going very well actually,” Trump said of the latest bid to end the US-Israeli war in the Middle East, which began on February 28. However, US lawmakers dealt a political blow to the Republican president Wednesday when the House of Representatives passed a resolution directing the withdrawal of American troops from the Iran war. The resolution, adopted with four Republican members joining the Democrats, was largely symbolic, as the US president can veto the measure if it gains Senate approval.
“This is a loud and unambiguous message to Donald Trump on behalf of the American people: it’s time to end his deeply unpopular and illegal war of choice in Iran,” Democrats posted on X. At a congressional hearing, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpiles were at the center of discussions with Tehran. Washington insists Tehran must turn over its near-weapons-grade enriched uranium, agree to curb its nuclear activities, and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the key shipping channel for Gulf oil and gas, for any peace agreement to take hold.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that lines of communication with the United States were still open but warned that any Israeli attack on the Lebanese capital Beirut, as part of its campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah, would trigger a “full-scale resumption” of the conflict. “Communications with the Americans have not been cut off, and messages have been exchanged regarding the need to stop aggression against Beirut, but no tangible progress has been made in the negotiation process,” the Tasnim news agency quoted Araghchi as telling Lebanon’s Al Mayadeen TV. “Any attack on Beirut will have grave consequences and will lead to a full-scale resumption of the war,” he added. “Our armed forces are ready to strike Israel if it attacks Beirut.”
Kuwait’s military condemned the drone strike on the airport as an act of “criminal Iranian aggression.” India’s foreign ministry confirmed that the one fatality was an Indian national. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards denied attacking the airport, claiming it was “an error in the American Patriot systems, which landed on the terminal after failing to intercept Iranian missiles.” The Revolutionary Guards also accused US forces of provoking a response by targeting a tanker and a communications tower on the country’s Qeshm Island. The fresh attacks represent one of the more severe tests of the April 8 ceasefire that paused over a month of conflict sparked by the US-Israeli bombing of Iran and has largely held despite sporadic exchanges of fire.
Trump played down the renewed hostilities, saying, “in that part of the world, ceasefire is when you’re shooting in a more moderate manner.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Iran of “playing with fire.” “Iran surely knows what the (US) president has said, that if necessary, there’ll be a full-scale return to military action,” Netanyahu stated in an interview with US channel CNBC. Following the drone attack on the airport, Kuwait suspended air traffic and diverted arriving planes to other destinations but later resumed Kuwait Airways flights. The international airport had been targeted multiple times during the war, having only fully resumed operations on Monday. Hassan Sheikh, a 40-year-old Pakistani resident of Kuwait living near the airport, reported hearing explosions throughout the night, noting, “For the first time, my children felt how serious the situation was.”
In Washington, Israel and Lebanon reached a ceasefire agreement after two days of direct talks. Notably, the agreement requires a “complete cessation” of fire by Hezbollah. They further agreed “with the guidance of the United States” to create “pilot zones” in which Lebanese armed forces — which have struggled to contain Hezbollah — “will take exclusive control of the territory to the exclusion of all non-state actors,” according to a joint statement.
Further discussions were planned for the week of June 22, with the aim of reaching a “comprehensive agreement.” However, Israel and Hezbollah continued to exchange fire, with Hezbollah claiming missile attacks on northern Israel, while Lebanon reported that Israeli strikes in the south killed at least nine people, including two paramedics. Israeli troops are conducting their most extensive ground offensive into Lebanon in two decades. A truce to halt the fighting in Lebanon was intended to take effect on April 17, but it has never been observed.
– AFP teams in Kuwait, Dubai, Tehran, Beirut, Washington, and Jerusalem.
© 2024 AFP
