(AFP) – US President Donald Trump is ready to “unleash hell” if Iran does not accept a deal to end the nearly four-week Middle East war, the White House warned Wednesday. However, a defiant Tehran stated it did not intend to negotiate. This ramped-up rhetoric dashed hopes of any imminent de-escalation as violence on the ground continued unabated, with Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia all coming under fire.
Trump insisted later Wednesday that Iran was participating in peace talks, but Tehran denied this, claiming their negotiators feared being killed by their own side. “They are negotiating, by the way, and they want to make a deal so badly,” Trump told a dinner for Republican members of Congress. “But they’re afraid to say it, because they figure they’ll be killed by their own people,” he added. “They’re also afraid they’ll be killed by us.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi denied that Iran was negotiating with the United States, asserting that an exchange of messages through “friendly countries” did not equate to talks with Washington. “We do not intend to negotiate,” Araghchi told state TV. “We seek an end to the war on our own terms.” In Pakistan, officials stated that Islamabad had conveyed a 15-point American plan to Tehran aimed at stopping the fighting that had begun on February 28. Iran’s state-controlled Press TV reported that Tehran had “responded negatively” to the plan and that the war would end only on Tehran’s terms, which include guarantees against future attacks.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt mentioned that talks had been “productive” but declined to specify whom the United States was engaging with in Tehran following the assassination of supreme leader Ali Khamenei. His son and successor, Mojtaba Khamenei, has not been seen in public. “If Iran fails to accept the reality of the current moment… Trump will ensure they are hit harder than they have ever been hit before,” Leavitt stated. “President Trump does not bluff, and he is prepared to unleash hell.”
With thousands more US troops reportedly heading to the Middle East, Iran threatened to open a new front by targeting Red Sea shipping should the United States launch a ground invasion. Iran’s military claimed that cruise missiles fired at the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier group had “forced it to change its position” and warned of “powerful strikes” when the fleet comes into range. Admiral Brad Cooper, head of US Central Command, reported that the United States had hit two-thirds of Iran’s production facilities for missiles and drones, and drone and missile launch rates had diminished by 90 percent. In a video, Cooper also estimated that 92 percent of the Iranian navy’s largest vessels had been damaged or destroyed. “They’ve now lost the ability to meaningfully project naval power and influence around the region and around the world,” he said.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres commented that the war was “out of control” and had “gone too far.” According to The New York Times, the 15-point US plan touches on Iran’s contested nuclear and missile programs, as well as “maritime routes.” Tehran has largely blocked the vital Strait of Hormuz oil route in retaliation for US-Israeli attacks, which has driven up global energy prices. The Iranian official quoted by Press TV asserted that Tehran had put forward its own five conditions for hostilities to end, including a robust mechanism to guarantee that neither Israel nor the United States will resume the war, and compensation for war damages.
Iran’s conditions also require a cessation of hostilities on all regional fronts and against all “resistance groups,” which refers to the Tehran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah that has been under attack from Israel. Additionally, Tehran seeks international recognition and guarantees of its rights to exercise sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz. In the event of a US ground invasion, Iran would also block the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, as stated by an unidentified military official to local media. Iran supports and arms the Houthi rebel group in Yemen, which significantly reduced Red Sea traffic in October 2023 when it began attacking vessels in retaliation for Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.
While striking targets in Iran on Wednesday, Israel also maintained its campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon, with planes targeting the southern suburbs of Beirut. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated that his forces were “expanding” a “buffer zone” in Lebanon, while Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem stated that negotiating with Israel under fire would amount to “surrender” for Lebanon. Lebanon was drawn into the war when Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel on March 2 to avenge the killing of Ayatollah Khamenei. According to Lebanese authorities, over 1,000 people have been killed, and upwards of one million people have been displaced in more than three weeks of Israeli strikes.
As the war drives energy prices soaring, stoking fears of heightened inflation and weaker global growth, markets remain focused on the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil typically passes. Araghchi remarked that the strait was “closed only to enemies,” asserting that “There is no reason to allow the ships of our enemies and their allies to pass.” Stock markets rallied, and oil prices initially fell on reports of potential negotiations, but on Wednesday, the Brent crude benchmark crept back above $100 a barrel.
burs/cl/js – AFP teams in Tehran, Washington, Jerusalem, Beirut, Dubai, and Islamabad.
© 2024 AFP
