WORLD NEWS: Trump raises threats against Iran despite boasting of progress in negotiations | International
In a major development, the following story has emerged from the international scene.
On day 31 of the United States and Israel’s war against Iran, the two parties extreme their positions. As Tehran takes steps to abandon the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, US President Donald Trump threatens to leave the country devastated and bomb its water desalination plants – an act that would constitute a war crime – if the Islamic Republic does not give in and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. But, at the same time, the president boasts of progress in the conversations that he claims exist between his Government and representatives of a “new” regime in Tehran, which he considers “more reasonable.” It has become almost a custom that on Mondays, just before opening the markets, Trump sends a message through social networks to try to calm them down. The rule has been fulfilled again after this past weekend the first reinforcement soldiers began to arrive to the large contingent that the United States deploys in the Persian Gulf and its area, and while Iran insists that, no matter how much the Republican president says that there are talks and that they are progressing adequately, the regime does not maintain direct negotiations with Washington. And he also warns that the demands that the United States has sent him through third parties are “highly excessive and maximalist.” In the text he wrote in Truth, Trump begins with an encouraging message. “The United States is in serious talks with a new, more reasonable regime to end our military operations in Iran. Great progress has been made.” But he immediately shifts to a much more aggressive tone. It warns that, if an agreement is not reached very soon in these talks, the United States will launch a series of attacks specifically aimed at annihilating the country’s economy and harming the civilian population. U.S. forces would destroy power plants, oil infrastructure — Iran’s economic engine — and desalination plants that generate drinking water for a population of 90 million people. Then, the message implies, American troops would withdraw, leaving behind a still-closed Strait of Hormuz and a devastated country. Trump’s text does not address what would happen then, but it follows that solving the global problems that this situation would leave – reopening Hormuz, restoring maritime traffic, rebuilding Iran, among many others – would be something that other countries would have to deal with. The president also does not allude to the great dilemma that he has before him after the arrival of the reinforcement troops: whether or not to order some type of ground incursion by Iran. Three men work in a building attacked by the United States and Israel against the neighborhood of 13 Aban, in the south of Tehran, on March 27. Jaime León (EFE) clarifies the tenant of the White House, “we will conclude our beautiful ‘stay’ in Iran by blowing up and annihilating all its electricity generating plants, its oil wells and the island of Kharg. [el gran centro petrolero iraní] and possibly all the desalination plants!, which we have not consciously touched yet.” The American president concludes: “This will occur in retaliation for the many soldiers of ours and others that Iran has massacred and killed during the terror government of the old regime of the last 47 years.” For his part, the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, one of those responsible for developing contacts with Tehran, has assured that there are “fissures” within the theocratic regime. “There are some internal fractures there. And, in the end, I think that if there were people in Iran who, given the circumstances, were now willing to take their country on a different path, that would be something positive,” said the head of US diplomacy, in an interview with the ABC television network. Tehran asks to remember “who started the war.” At least in public, the regime that Trump now sees as “more reasonable” does not even want to hear about the terms under which the Republican would want an agreement. At a press conference in Tehran, the spokesman for the The country’s Foreign Ministry, Esmail Baghaei, has acknowledged receiving messages from Washington through Pakistan. With Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia – which, along with the United Arab Emirates, are privately leaning towards a more aggressive position with Iran -, Islamabad is trying to direct the conflict towards the negotiating table. The spokesperson has welcomed the involvement of these countries, but has warned that this initiative was forged without the participation of Iran, and has indicated that the mediators must keep in mind “who initiated the conflict.” war.”Both sides are emitting contradictory signals. The United States is accumulating military power in the region and its president says that the negotiations are going “very well”, at the same time that it is considering keeping the Iranian oil, as it threatened this Sunday. Tehran, for its part, this Monday allowed the circulation of 20 US oil ships through the Strait of Hormuz as a “sign of respect”, as Trump formulated on Sunday, while advancing measures that suggest the entrenchment of the conflict.Meanwhile, the Iranian Parliament has registered this Monday a bill for Iran to charge tolls for ships that circulate through Hormuz, through which 20% of the world’s oil passes. In addition, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has assured that the Iranian authorities are considering withdrawing from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which requires its signatories to refrain from developing nuclear weapons and submit to UN inspections. “What benefit is there in joining a treaty in which intimidating actors. At the international level, not only do they not allow us to benefit from their rights, but they also attack our nuclear facilities?” Baghaei has asked, who has reiterated that Iran “is not seeking” to build atomic weapons. A second front on the riseBeyond the Gulf countries, Iraq or Syria (which despite not participating in the conflict continue to suffer attacks from Iran or its allied militias for hosting US bases), the other major regional war front shows no signs of slowing down either. While it continues active in Iran, where this Monday it reported a “recent” attack on a university in Tehran where it claims that the Revolutionary Guard is investigating the production of weapons, the Israeli army continues its offensive to occupy 10% of Lebanese territory. The Israeli authorities have confirmed the death of the sixth soldier at the hands of the Lebanese militia Hezbollah since the beginning of March. It is not the only attack claimed by the group, which this Monday launched projectiles on northern Israel at the same time. towards Iran. The main Israeli refinery, located in Haifa, in the north of Israel, has received a direct hit. Despite the trickle of casualties, which in Israel could worsen the popularity of the invasion of Lebanon, Israeli troops maintain a large-scale offensive on the southern half of the country and have caused 1,238 moral victims in five weeks – among them, 126 children and 52 health workers – and more than 3,000 injuries. Monday in a bombardment on the Beirutian suburbs, where there are still residents – especially those without resources to flee – despite Israeli eviction orders. One citizen has died and 17 have been injured – among them, six Syrian refugees and a woman from Kenya – Lebanese Prime Minister, Nawaf Salam, has defended those who opt to stay in their homes, also in southern Lebanon, where fighting between Israel and Hezbollah engulfs the territory and. They also reach those who do not participate in them, such as the two Indonesian blue helmets killed by fire incidents since Sunday – one of them, confirmed only by the Spanish Government, whose army has a contingent in the peace mission.
Editor’s Insight:
This development could have far-reaching consequences for global politics in the months ahead.
This is part of a broader trend that has been reshaping the geopolitical landscape in recent months.
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Source: This article was originally published in another language by Internacional en EL PAÍS and has been translated and adapted for our global English-speaking audience. Read the original article here.