The diplomacy and the threat: while delegations from several countries (Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan) gathered in Islamabad, Pakistan on Sunday, March 29 to seek a resolution to the conflict in the Middle East, Washington continued to send mixed signals. “While the White House is tentatively trying to end the war in Iran through diplomatic means, American troops are also arriving in the region to deliver what Donald Trump hopes will be a decisive blow if a ceasefire cannot be negotiated with Tehran”, wrote The Guardian. Here is a summary of a day with still very contradictory signals.
Israel intensified its strikes against Tehran on Sunday, March 29. The Israeli military conducted nighttime strikes on several military sites in the Iranian capital, targeting Iranian missile and air defense infrastructures, as reported by Ha’Aretz, citing a statement from the Israeli army. The offices of the Qatari channel Al-Araby were also hit by a missile strike.
In Lebanon, where, for the first time since the conflict began, the Israeli army announced it had carried out an operation from Mount Hermon in Syria, the war could also drag on, according to L’Orient-Le Jour. The Lebanese newspaper relayed information reported by Yediot Ahrahonot. Officials interviewed by the Israeli newspaper indicated that “the Israeli army will likely remain in the region for months, if not longer”.
The information was revealed on Sunday morning, March 29, by the Israeli newspaper Ha’Aretz, which in its live reporting shared the news from Iranian state media. “Five people were killed today in an Iranian port city near the Strait of Hormuz, during attacks carried out by Israel and the United States,” reported the Tel Aviv-based media. The port in question is Bandar Khamir, which is located near the strait through which, before the war, 20% of the world’s oil traffic flowed, and which the United States wants to “liberate” from Iranian control at all costs.
Iran has claimed attacks on two of the world’s largest aluminum smelters in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. An attack on a US military base in Saudi Arabia also left about twenty people injured. “Iran still has a sufficient arsenal of missiles and drones to destabilize the region and inflict heavy losses on its adversaries,” affirmed the New York Times. This assessment was confirmed by an article in the Guardian published on Saturday, March 28, which, based on a Reuters report, stated that “after a month of war, the United States has only destroyed about a third of Iran’s missile and drone arsenal.”
Faced with the threat from the Pasdaran to target American universities in the Middle East, the American University of Beirut (AUB) announced on Sunday that classes would be held online for the next two days, as reported by L’Orient-Le Jour.
In southern Israel, workers were ordered to take shelter while teams intervened following a chemical leak after an Iranian missile strike on a factory in Beer-Sheva and the industrial zone of Neot Hovav.
“This open enemy is sending a negotiation message while secretly preparing a ground attack. This statement, relayed in the columns of the Guardian, was made on Sunday, March 29 by Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. The man, who denounces alleged double-dealing by the White House, is none other than the speaker of the Iranian Parliament, and his remarks echo information that has widely circulated in the international press in recent days.
These reports indicate plans by the United States for a ground attack in Iran, as explained by the Washington Post on Saturday, March 28. According to the newspaper based in the American capital, which claims to have spoken to multiple sources speaking on condition of anonymity, the United States would be preparing for “weeks of ground operations in Iran.” This wouldn’t be a large-scale invasion, the media outlet later detailed, but rather to organize “raids managed by a mix of special operations forces and conventional infantry troops.” This could also explain the announced arrival of 3,500 American soldiers on site.
Gathered in Islamabad on Sunday to initiate de-escalation of the conflict, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia were to discuss the conditions for de-escalation. “While neither Washington nor Tehran attended the meeting, it is nevertheless considered a preparatory step towards a broader diplomatic opening”, wrote the Pakistani newspaper Dawn. Citing diplomatic sources, the newspaper claimed that “talks could take place in Islamabad on Tuesday, under the auspices of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.”
Pakistan is trying to “bring the United States and Iran back to the negotiating table,” as explained in a statement released on Sunday by the office of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Nothing has been confirmed yet.
