War in the Middle East: Iran questions the “seriousness” of the United States, without responding to the American proposal

This Saturday, Iran indicated that it was questioning the seriousness of American diplomacy in the ongoing negotiations to find a solution to the conflict in the Middle East, without however communicating its response to Washington’s latest proposal. A month after the entry into force of a truce, the head of Iranian diplomacy, Abbas Araghchi, expressed this skepticism during a telephone interview with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, the day after new skirmishes in the waters of the Gulf.

“The recent escalation of tensions by American forces and their multiple violations of the ceasefire reinforce suspicions about the motivation and seriousness of the American side on the path to diplomacy”affirmed Abbas Araghchi, quoted by the Iranian agency Isna. In Washington, President Donald Trump, for his part, said on Friday that he was waiting in the evening for a response from the Iranians to a proposal aimed at putting a lasting end to hostilities. “I should receive a letter this evening, so we’ll see how it goes.”he assured journalists. The spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ismaël Baghaï, quoted by state television, told him that Iran was still studying the American proposal.

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«Flagrant violation» of the three

Since the start of the war on February 28, triggered by an Israeli-American attack against Iran, Tehran has blocked the strategic Strait of Hormuz, to which Washington responded by imposing a blockade of Iranian ports on April 13. The American army announced Friday that it had “neutralé” by air two Iranian tankers in the Gulf of Oman, gateway to the strait, a strategic passage for global hydrocarbon trade. If the ships were not carrying cargo according to the army, images released by the US military command for the region (Centcom) show thick columns of smoke escaping from the cockpits.

Téhéran a dénoncé auprès de l’ONU une “flagrant violation” of the truce. And a military source cited by the Tasnim agency confirmed that Iranian forces had responded. “After a period of exchanges of fire, the clashes have now stopped and calm has returned”she stipulated. The war has left thousands dead, mainly in Iran and Lebanon, and shaken the world economy. The standoff between Tehran and Washington in Hormuz has caused oil prices to soar. The barrel of Brent from the North Sea thus ended the week once again above 100 dollars.

Petroleum nappe of 50 kilometers carrés

The United Kingdom announced on Saturday that it would “preposition in the Middle East” a destroyer currently in the Mediterranean, in anticipation of the deployment of a future international mission to secure transport in the Strait of Hormuz, an initiative co-led by France. According to satellite images released on Friday, an oil slick of around fifty square kilometers was detected in the Gulf off the Iranian island of Kharg, the country’s main oil terminal through which 90% of Iran’s crude normally passes.

According to the Observatory of Conflicts and the Environment, an NGO based in the United Kingdom, the slick has however «Strongly reduced» SATURDAY. “There is no official information about oil leaks near Kharg Islandâ€assured the head of the Iranian parliamentary committee on energy, quoted on Saturday by the ISNA agency.

One dead in Lebanon

On the other front of the conflict, in Lebanon, Israel and the pro-Iranian Hezbollah continue their daily mutual attacks, despite the ceasefire in force since April 17, which they both accuse each other of violating. The Israeli army again ordered, on Saturday, the immediate evacuation of several localities in the south of the country with a view to attacks against the Shiite movement. The Lebanese news agency ANI then reported a series of Israeli strikes in this region, but also three strikes about 20 km south of Beirut.

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According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, an Israeli drone targeted a motorcycle three times in the town of Nabatiyé, killing a Syrian national and seriously injuring his 12-year-old daughter. Hezbollah then said it had targeted the army in northern Israel. The pro-Iranian movement dragged Beirut into the war on March 2, by relaunching its attacks on Israel, after the joint offensive of the United States and Israel against Iran.

Israeli strikes in Lebanon have left 2,750 dead since the start of the war, according to Friday’s report from the Health Ministry. New discussions between the two neighboring countries – still technically in a state of war – are planned in Washington on May 14 and 15. Hezbollah opposes it.