Iran said it had attacked a U.S. air base following weekend U.S. strikes on Iranian military targets and Kuwait said on Monday it had come under fire, despite a fragile ceasefire and diplomatic efforts to end three months of war.
Oil prices rose more than 3% after the latest strikes, with tensions also fuelled by Israel ordering troops to move further into Lebanon against Tehran-backed Hezbollah, in a conflict that was reignited by the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.
U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated that he believed Tehran wants to reach a deal. But hopes of a breakthrough were tempered by comments by Iranian officials criticising the “constantly changing” U.S. negotiating stance and condemning Israeli attacks in Lebanon, where a ceasefire is also in place.
“Violation on one front is a violation of the ceasefire on all fronts. The U.S. and Israel are responsible for the consequences of any violation,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on X.
FRAYING CEASEFIRES
The war launched by the U.S. and Israel on February 28 has killed thousands of people, mainly in Iran and Lebanon. It has also caused global economic pain by pushing up energy prices since Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global supply route for oil and liquefied natural gas.
Iran and the U.S. have sporadically traded blows despite their ceasefire, which has been in place since early April, while Pakistan has been trying to mediate a durable peace agreement.
The U.S. military said it had at the weekend struck Iranian air defences, a ground control station and two drones that were threatening ships after “aggressive Iranian actions”, including shooting down a U.S. drone over international waters.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Monday it had targeted an air base used by the U.S. in response to an attack on southern Iran.
It did not identify the base, but Kuwait activated air defences on Monday and denounced Iranian missile and drone attacks, which it said were undermining efforts to reduce tensions in the region.
U.S. forces intercepted two Iranian ballistic missiles targeting American forces based in Kuwait late on Sunday, the U.S. military said on Monday, adding that no American personnel were harmed.
STOP NEGATIVE ‘CHIRPING’, TRUMP SAYS
In a late-night social media post, U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran “really wants to make a deal”.
He berated critics, including what he described as “seemingly unpatriotic Republicans”, for negative “chirping” about the negotiations to end the conflict.
“Just sit back and relax, it will all work out well in the end – It always does!” he said.
But Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei accused Washington on Monday of sending contradictory messages and said this would not work as a negotiating tactic.
“Negotiations have started amid severe suspicion and mistrust, and the exchange of messages is taking place in this atmosphere,” Baghaei said.
“The other party is constantly changing its views and putting forward new or contradictory demands (…) it is natural that this situation will prolong negotiations.”
Baghaei said Iran viewed Israeli actions in the region, including in Lebanon, as inseparable from those of the U.S.
SIDES AT ODDS ON SEVERAL ISSUES
Trump is under pressure to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and get U.S. gasoline prices down before November congressional elections, as voters show increasing frustration over rising prices. At the same time, he faces a potential backlash from Iran hawks in his own party over any concessions to Tehran.
Trump has said his main aim in the war is to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon with its highly enriched uranium. Tehran denies planning to develop a nuclear arsenal.
The sides are also at odds on other issues, such as Tehran’s demands for the lifting of sanctions and the release of tens of billions of dollars of Iranian oil revenue frozen in foreign banks. Iran also wants the U.S. to lift a blockade of its ports, imposed after Tehran effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian state media reported on Monday that 15 vessels, including four oil tankers, had passed through the strait in the past 24 hours after obtaining permission and being coordinated and secured by the Revolutionary Guards Navy.
But shipping executives meeting in Athens on Monday said any peace deal would need to offer clear rules allowing vessels to resume normal business via the strait.
US PLAN FOR ISRAEL AND LEBANON
Israel’s war in Lebanon with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia is another impediment to a deal.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he had ordered troops to move further into Lebanon in the battle against Hezbollah.
Netanyahu on Monday ordered the military to attack targets in the Lebanese capital Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold. His office accused Hezbollah of repeated violations of a ceasefire agreed in late April.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with both Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Netanyahu on the diplomatic negotiations between Israel and Lebanon and has proposed a plan to allow for “gradual de-escalation,” a U.S. official said.
(Reuters)
