The American army announced that it had shot down two Iranian attack drones which it said threatened maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, with no solution emerging to end the war in the Middle East which enters its 100th day on Sunday.
If the peace negotiations seem to have stalled, the Pakistani mediator is continuing his efforts, with a new visit to Tehran by the Minister of the Interior, Mohsen Naqvi, who delivered a “special letter” to the head of Iranian diplomacy, according to state television.
Addressed to supreme guide Mojtaba Khamenei, it contains “a very important message”, underlined Mr. Naqvi without revealing its content.
Iran and the United States have remained quiet in recent days on the talks, far from the positive declarations at the end of May on a memorandum of understanding in the finalization phase.
In 100 days, the war, triggered on February 28 by Israeli-American strikes, set the Middle East ablaze and shook the world economy. And while Donald Trump seeks a way out of this unpopular conflict in the United States, the Islamic Republic prides itself on having inflicted a “stinging setback” despite the death in the bombings of several of its senior leaders and thousands of civilians.
Since the truce of April 8, hostilities had almost ceased. But they have recently resumed, particularly around the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic maritime route for hydrocarbons blocked by Tehran.
“Suspended state”
“I have the impression that this situation will last for a while: a sort of suspended state, where some people fire missiles, others launch drones, and I doubt that all this will lead to real stability,” Farhad, a 35-year-old chef in Tehran, told AFP.
Life has become “increasingly difficult, even before this war,” he adds. “Things that we might have considered buying just a few months ago have now become dreams and fairy tales.”
During the night, the US military announced that it had shot down two single-use Iranian attack drones that threatened international maritime traffic in the strait.
“American forces remain on alert and ready to continue to defend against Iranian aggression,” declared the American Central Command in the Middle East (Centcom).
Already on Friday evening, Centcom had shot down four Iranian attack drones launched towards the strait, then struck Iranian coastal surveillance radar sites.
In retaliation, Iran fired a salvo of missiles against military installations in Kuwait and Bahrain, allies of the United States who denounced “a dangerous escalation”.
Lebanon
At the same time, hostilities continue on the other front of the conflict, in Lebanon, from where projectiles were fired towards Israel on Sunday, despite a ceasefire theoretically in force.
The day before, Israeli bombings left at least five dead, including three soldiers from the Lebanese army, with Israel announcing the death of two of its soldiers.
Strikes on Lebanon have left more than 3,560 dead since the start of the war, according to the authorities’ latest report. On the Israeli side, 29 soldiers and a civilian contractor were killed in Lebanon, according to the army.
Tehran demands that any agreement with Washington include the end of hostilities on Lebanese soil between Israel and pro-Iranian Hezbollah, while the United States would like to treat the two issues separately.
And the head of the Lebanese army is visiting Pakistan to meet his counterpart Asim Munir, the main mediator in the talks between the United States and Iran.
Question of assets
Lebanon, Iranian assets frozen abroad, nuclear power, control of the Strait of Hormuz: the positions of the two camps remain distant.
According to a source close to the matter, the American Treasury is examining the possibility that the assets could, instead of being paid to Iran, be used to compensate the Gulf countries for the damage caused by the Iranian strikes.
Enough to further strain the climate between the two countries, which also compete on the football field.
Iran, which is participating in the World Cup jointly organized by the United States, Mexico and Canada, denounces “discriminatory treatment” of its delegation while several members of the management did not obtain visas to enter American soil.
The team is expected in a few hours in Tijuana, Mexico, its base camp. But its three group stage matches are scheduled in the United States: in Los Angeles on June 15 against New Zealand and June 21 against Belgium, and on June 26 in Seattle against Egypt
This article has been automatically published. Sources: ats / afp
