War in the Middle East: the United States and Iran attack each other despite the ceasefire

The United States and Iran announced on the night of Sunday May 31 to Monday 1^is June a series of reciprocal attacks, dealing a new blow to the ceasefire at a time when their negotiations to end the war are slipping. US media reports over the weekend of new US demands on Tehran dampened hopes of an imminent deal, fueled by Donald Trump himself. And while on the Lebanese front Israel intensified its offensive, the American army announced that it had carried out a new wave of strikes on Saturday and Sunday.défensives» on southern Iran, the third in a little over a week.

These bombings targeted radar and drone control systems in the city of Goruk and the island of Qeshm in the Strait of Hormuz, the US Middle East Command (Centcom) said Sunday evening on X. These operations were carried out “in response to aggressive actions by Iran, including the destruction of a US MQ-1 drone that was operating over international waters“, added the same source. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards soon after claimed to have attacked a base used by the US military for strikes against its territory.

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The location of this base was not specified in the guards’ press release distributed by state media. The Kuwaiti army announced for its part that it was facing a drone and missile attack. Washington and Tehran had already accused each other on Thursday of violating the ceasefire in force since April 8, after the strikes American attacks on southern Iran followed by an attack on Kuwait.

Plus the fermeté

The war was triggered on February 28 by an Israeli-American offensive, while Tehran and Washington had resumed nuclear negotiations. The conflict, which has left thousands dead, is shaking the world economy by pushing up oil prices. While the two countries seemed to be getting closer to an agreement in recent days, the New York Times reported on Saturday, without further details, that the American president had toughened his proposal and sent a new version of a possible memorandum of understanding to Tehran.

According to the American site Axios, Donald Trump, whose declared priority is to put an end to the Iranian nuclear program and to restore maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, wants more firmness from Washington negotiators. CBS reported Sunday evening that the new US proposal provides for an extension of the ceasefire by 60 days with clauses providing for the reopening of Hormuz and a framework for a resumption of nuclear negotiations.

«We will not approve any agreement until we are certain that the rights of the Iranian people have been fully guaranteed“, warned the main Iranian negotiator, the Speaker of Parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, on Sunday. Iran, which claims its right to carry out a civilian nuclear program, has always denied wanting to acquire atomic weapons, despite suspicions to this effect from the United States and many countries. He wishes to address this issue at a later stage in the event of an agreement with Washington and demands an immediate lifting of the sanctions affecting him.

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Donald Trump insisted Sunday on Truth Social that the draft agreement «states very clearly that Iran will not have a nuclear weapon“, and this “in very firm termsHAS”. Tehran also insists that any agreement includes an end to hostilities in Lebanon, where Israel wants.liminer» pro-Iranian Hezbollah. But on this front, the Israeli army continues to advance in the south of the country where it has carried out new strikes, and Hezbollah continues its attacks particularly in the Israeli north, despite the truce in force since April 17, but not respected.

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The Israeli army on Sunday seized the medieval Beaufort Fortress, a strategic site where it had established a base during the two decades of Israeli occupation, which ended in 2000. For the United States, it is at Hezbollah to stop firing first, in return for which Israelwould refrain from any escalation in Beirut“, according to a plan reported by an American official following interviews conducted on Sunday by the head of diplomacy Marco Rubio with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. France has requested an emergency meeting at the Security Council, which will be held on Monday, according to diplomatic sources at AFP.