(AFP) – Iran and Israel traded fresh missile and drone strikes Wednesday, with countries across the Middle East coming under fire as diplomats worked in the background to end the nearly four-week war. The conflict that began on February 28 with US-Israeli attacks on Iran has mushroomed throughout the region, sending world energy markets into a tailspin and threatening to torpedo the global economy.
US President Donald Trump signalled that talks were underway, with a 15-point peace plan reportedly sent to Tehran. However, an Iranian official dismissed this claim, stating that no negotiations had taken place. With the official status of talks uncertain, diplomats indicated mediation was ongoing behind the scenes, while the daily salvoes of strikes across the region continued unabated.
Iran fired a volley of “precision-guided” missiles and drones at Israel and bases hosting US forces in Kuwait, Jordan, and Bahrain, according to the country’s Revolutionary Guards. AFP images captured rocket trails streaming over the skies of the Israeli coastal city of Netanya, as air raid sirens blared across much of the country’s central region. Drones struck a fuel tank at Kuwait International Airport, igniting a fireball, while authorities in Jordan reported shrapnel falling near the capital, Amman, and air raid warnings rang out in Bahrain.
Iran has lashed out at Gulf nations, which were previously seen as a relative safe haven in a volatile region, severely impacting the tourism industry and crippling global air travel as major hubs come under attack. The war has also drawn in Lebanon, with Israeli forces attempting to take control of ground up to the Litani River, around 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the border, intensifying its campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah.
In the Lebanese town of Sahel Alma, north of Beirut, AFP images displayed shattered windows and rubble lining the streets after an explosion. “We have two-year-old children scared and crying and going through this,” local resident Gaia Khouiri told AFP. The Israeli campaign has reportedly killed at least 1,072 people in Lebanon, with more than one million displaced, according to Lebanese authorities. Israeli warplanes targeted Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, again overnight. An AFP correspondent observed a street covered in debris, including shattered cement and warped pieces of metal after an early morning strike, while an apartment building’s upper floors appeared severely damaged.
Israel also announced it was launching fresh missile strikes on the “infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime.” Shayan, a 40-year-old woman living in Tehran, expressed despair, telling AFP: “There is gasoline, water, and electricity. But there is a sense of helplessness in all of us. We don’t know what to do and there’s really nothing we can do.”
In Geneva, United Nations rights chief Volker Turk warned that strikes around Iran and Israel’s nuclear sites risked unleashing an “unmitigated catastrophe.” As the fighting on the ground showed little sign of respite, Trump appeared to ramp up efforts to end the conflict. The US president, whose daily statements on the war have fluctuated between threatening and conciliatory, stated that Washington was “in negotiations right now” with Tehran.
He informed reporters in the Oval Office that Iran had given him “a very big present worth a tremendous amount of money,” which he claimed demonstrated that “we’re dealing with the right people.” Trump did not elaborate further but mentioned that it related to the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has largely blockaded in retaliation for US and Israeli strikes, causing global energy prices to soar. Several media outlets reported that Trump had sent a 15-point plan to Iran via Pakistan, which has offered to mediate a possible resolution to the war.
Yet, Iran’s ambassador to Pakistan, Reza Amiri Moghadam, stated that “contrary to Trump’s claims, so far no negotiations, direct or indirect, have taken place between the two countries.” The Javan newspaper in Iran splashed a caricature of Trump with a “Pinocchio”-style nose, under the headline: “The world’s most failed and disgraced liar.”
One diplomatic source in the region, however, indicated that mediators were relaying messages between the two sides, both of whom were open to negotiation. “There is hope, but it’s too early to be optimistic,” the source noted, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive issues. Both sides still need to find a way to back down without losing face. In public, Iran maintained its belligerent rhetoric, with the speaker of Iran’s parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, warning the US: “Do not test our resolve to defend our land.”
Focus remained on the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the key route through which one-fifth of the world’s crude oil flows. Tehran assured safe passage through the strait to “non-hostile vessels” in a message circulated by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). However, the IMO cited a statement from Iran’s foreign ministry indicating that no passage would be granted to vessels belonging to “the aggressor parties — namely the United States and the Israeli regime.”
The economic impact of the crisis has begun to affect countries worldwide, with governments seeking to cut energy consumption and airlines scaling back flights. However, Iran’s pledge, coupled with Trump’s more conciliatory tone, pushed stocks higher and sent oil prices lower in Asian trade.
burs-ric/jsa – AFP teams in Tehran, Washington, Jerusalem, Beirut, and Dubai
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