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Trump Calls off Iran Strike Threats 06/12 06:22
U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday he had called off new military
strikes on Iran, claiming a breakthrough in negotiations to end the war just
hours after the American leader threatened to escalate the conflict by seizing
control of Iran's oil industry.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said
Thursday he had called off new military strikes on Iran, claiming a
breakthrough in negotiations to end the war just hours after the American
leader threatened to escalate the conflict by seizing control of Iran's oil
industry.
Trump has said multiple times in recent weeks that the warring parties have
been on the cusp of a deal without anything coming to fruition. A spokesperson
for Iran's Foreign Ministry said in a live phone call on state television that
mediators were active and nothing had been finalized to end the conflict that
began Feb. 28 when the U.S. and Israel jointly attacked Iran.
Trump opened an Oval Office event Thursday afternoon saying: "We just made a
great settlement of the war with Iran." He offered scant details, other than to
say he expects an agreement to extend a fragile ceasefire that started in April
to be finalized "over the next few days."
Extending the terms of the ceasefire gives U.S. leaders more time to
negotiate over Iran's nuclear program, the main reason Trump and Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used to justify launching the war. Netanyahu's
office said Thursday that Israel is not a party to the emerging agreement
between the U.S. and Iran.
The announcement came after two days of back-and-forth attacks between the
U.S. and Iran had pushed the Middle East closer to the resumption of a
full-scale war.
Trump had threatened further escalation earlier Thursday, posting on social
media that the U.S. would hit Iran "VERY HARD TONIGHT" and take "total control"
of its oil and gas industries. A few hours later, Trump posted on social media
that significant points in the negotiations "have been brought to the highest
level of Iranian leadership and approved."
Esmail Baghaei, the spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry, said in his
phone call on state television that the text of a deal is "mostly finalized."
"The problem is that the contradictions in America's position have caused
turbulence to this process," he said Thursday night.
A major sticking point in negotiations has been Iran's nuclear program,
which the U.S. and Israel fear could lead to an atomic weapon, but which Tehran
says is for peaceful purposes. Another key issue is Iran's stranglehold on the
Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping lane for transporting oil and natural gas.
Trump again moves quickly from threats to negotiating
Trump's rapid shift Thursday from dire threats to promoting peace
negotiations again underscored his whipsaw approach to the war. He suggested on
Monday that a deal to end the conflict could be reached in a matter of days.
Then back-and-forth strikes rattled the Middle East this week. The first
involved attacks between Iran and Israel, followed by the two rounds of fire
between the U.S. and Iran, which targeted countries where U.S. troops are
based. The U.S. strikes began after Trump blamed Iran for downing an American
attack helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz. Both pilots were rescued safely.
Iran's Foreign Ministry said the U.S. attacks had "effectively rendered the
ceasefire ... meaningless," without saying it was abandoning it.
After Trump threatened more attacks were to come on Thursday, Iran's
parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, responded on social media that
"wrong strategies and impulsive decisions" would wreak havoc on energy markets
and "create an endless quagmire that you will be stuck in for years."
It wasn't the first time Trump threatened escalation before giving
negotiations another chance. In April, he warned Iran that "a whole
civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again" if it didn't
agree to his terms, before extending a ceasefire.
Trump threatened to seize Iran's main oil terminal
Iran's monthslong disruption of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has
crimped global energy supplies, driven up fuel prices and made food and other
basics more expensive well beyond the region.
Trump had threatened Thursday to seize Kharg Island, the heart of Iran's oil
industry, through which 90% of its exports pass.
But Trump himself soon voiced doubts about taking over the oil terminal,
saying in an interview with Fox News: "I don't know that America has the
stomach for it, to be honest."
"I don't want to have boots on the ground," Trump said. "But if I wanted to,
we could put a small group of soldiers and take over the place."
Tensions persist over Iran's nuclear program, Strait of Hormuz
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a social media post that the
U.S. would extract funds from frozen Iranian accounts to offset the costs of
damage to American allies and any tolls Iran imposes for ships to transit the
Strait of Hormuz.
Beyond the deadlock over the strait, the two sides also remain at odds over
Iran's nuclear program. Tehran insists its nuclear efforts are peaceful. The
U.S. and Israel fear Tehran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium could be
used to build an atomic weapon.
Iran has insisted that any deal to end the war must also end fighting in
Lebanon between its ally militia Hezbollah and Israel. But Netanyahu appears
intent on pursuing his goal of destroying the militant group.
Iranian student says hope dwindles as attacks escalate
A 25-year-old student in northern Iran says Iranians are fearing "chaos"
amid the war with the U.S. and Israel and multiplying crises at home.
The student, who lives in the city of Babol, said many Iranians are
struggling to afford groceries in the face of mass job losses and triple-digit
food inflation. He spoke on the condition of anonymity out of security fears.
"Everything is going wrong and there is no hope among the people," the
student added.
The student first spoke to The Associated Press before the war when he
participated in widespread anti-government protests. He now says his chief
concern is that Iran "maintain territorial integrity and deterrence" in the
face of attacks by the U.S. and Israel.
US fires on another merchant ship to enforce blockade
The U.S. military's Central Command said Thursday that it struck a
Guinea-Bissau-flagged tanker attempting to evade the American blockade on
Iranian ports. It said the M/T Jalveer was transporting Iranian oil when it was
disabled late Wednesday after its crew failed to obey U.S. orders.
It's the ninth merchant vessel the U.S. military says it disabled to enforce
the blockade.
Three Indian sailors were killed when American forces struck the
Palau-flagged M/T Settebello on Tuesday, India's minister overseeing ports and
shipping said Thursday on X.
U.S. Central Command said American forces issued warnings before firing on
the ship, which it accused of trying to evade the blockade.
The leader of the International Maritime Organization, a United Nations
agency, condemned the attack.
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