War in the Middle East. “A trifle”: Trump defends the ceasefire despite exchanges of …

The United States said it had “targeted Iranian military installations” on Thursday after several of its ships were attacked in the Strait of Hormuz. “They played with us today. We swept them away. They played. I call it a trifle,” the American president declared to journalists, adding that, according to him, the ceasefire was still in force. These exchanged shots weaken the truce in place since April 8, almost a month, at a time when Washington is still awaiting a response from Tehran to its latest proposal to put a lasting end to the war.

And this Friday morning, the air defense of the United Arab Emirates is in action against drones and missiles fired, according to their Ministry of Defense, from Iran. Tehran did not react immediately to this information. He had “categorically” denied earlier this week any role in attacks in recent days reported by the Gulf country.
Donald Trump called on Iran to sign an agreement “QUICKLY” in a message posted on his Truth Social platform, otherwise he would be hit “much more violently in the future.”

“US forces intercepted unprovoked Iranian attacks and responded with defensive strikes” after three of their guided-missile destroyers were attacked while crossing the Strait of Hormuz into the Gulf of Oman by “missiles, drones and “small boats” Iranian, wrote the American command for the Middle East on X.

They “neutralized threats and targeted Iranian military installations responsible for attacks against US forces, including missile and drone launch sites, command and control centers, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance bases,” he added. “No American ship was hit,” said the American army.

“Long-lasting ceasefire”

The Iranian military command accused Washington of having violated the ceasefire by targeting an Iranian oil tanker leaving the Iranian coast, as well as another boat, in a statement cited by state television. He added that he “immediately responded by attacking American military ships, inflicting significant damage on them.” Iranian television had earlier reported explosions heard in a port on the island of Qeshm, located in the Strait of Hormuz.

Tehran has blocked this strategic passage for global hydrocarbon trade since the start of the war on February 28, which left thousands dead, especially in Iran and Lebanon, and shook the world economy. “I firmly believe that this ceasefire will become a lasting ceasefire,” said Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in a televised speech on Thursday, whose country works as a mediator and has “remained in permanent contact with Iran and the United States, day and night “.

In the absence of a breakthrough in the negotiations, oil prices fell moderately on Thursday and rose slightly on Friday morning. A barrel of Brent, the world benchmark, was trading above 101 dollars around 5:20 a.m. Donald Trump judged a peace agreement with the Islamic Republic “very possible” on Wednesday, citing “very good discussions in the last 24 hours”, even if he had again raised the threat of a resumption of bombings.

Négociations

On Tuesday, the American president announced, given the “great progress made towards an agreement”, the suspension of the American operation launched only the day before to allow hundreds of boats stuck in the Gulf to cross the Strait of Hormuz. If Iran felt that the United States was seeking to force its “surrender”, it was careful not to slam the door, the spokesperson for its diplomacy, Esmaïl Baghaï, affirming on Wednesday that his country “was still examining the plan and the American proposal” and “will communicate its position to the Pakistani side, once arrested.” So far, the only negotiation session, which was held almost a month ago in Islamabad, has not been successful.

In the strategic Strait of Hormuz, some 1,500 ships and around 20,000 crew members remain “trapped”, according to the secretary general of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a UN agency. Washington, for its part, maintains its blockade of Iranian ports launched on April 13.

Israel-Lebanon meeting

On the Lebanese front of the conflict, new discussions between Israel and Lebanon will be held in Washington on May 14 and 15, despite a ceasefire weakened by the continuation of hostilities between Hezbollah and the Israeli army, American diplomacy said on Thursday. Two first direct negotiation sessions in the American capital between Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors took place on April 14 and 23.

The two countries have officially been in a state of war since 1948 and the April sessions were the first of their kind in 33 years. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Monday that a security agreement with Israel and an “end to Israeli aggression” must precede any possible meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Despite the truce, fighting continues in Lebanon. Israeli strikes left at least 12 dead, including two children, on Thursday in the south of the country, according to the Health Ministry. The pro-Iranian Hezbollah movement, which dragged Lebanon into the war on March 2 in support of Tehran, claims attacks against Israeli forces who occupy areas in the south of the country.