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Iran, US Harden Positions to End War 03/26 06:14
Iran and the United States hardened their positions as a diplomatic push for
a ceasefire in the Middle East war appeared to falter on Thursday. Tehran moved
to formalize its control over the crucial Strait of Hormuz while Washington
prepared for the arrival of U.S. troops in the region that could be used on the
ground in the Islamic Republic.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- Iran and the United States hardened
their positions as a diplomatic push for a ceasefire in the Middle East war
appeared to falter on Thursday. Tehran moved to formalize its control over the
crucial Strait of Hormuz while Washington prepared for the arrival of U.S.
troops in the region that could be used on the ground in the Islamic Republic.
Sirens over Israel warned of barrages of incoming Iranian missiles and in
the United Arab Emirates, two people were reported killed and three were
wounded by falling shrapnel from a missile interception over Abu Dhabi on
Thursday.
The secretary-general of a bloc of Gulf Arab countries said that Iran is
charging fees for ships to safely transit the Strait of Hormuz. Industry
experts say some ships are paying in Chinese yuan to pass through the Strait of
Hormuz, where 20% of all traded oil and natural gas is transported in peacetime.
Israel said Thursday it killed Commodore Alireza Tangsiri, the head of
Iranian Revolutionary Guard's navy -- the key official overseeing the closure
of the strait. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said he had been killed
along with other senior naval commanders in a strike overnight. Iran did not
immediately acknowledge Tangsiri's killing.
Meanwhile, a strike group anchored by the amphibious assault ship USS
Tripoli drew closer to the Mideast with some 2,500 Marines. Also, at least
1,000 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne have been ordered to the region.
The troop movements don't guarantee U.S. President Donald Trump will use
force to try and compel Iran to open the strait and halt its attacks on Gulf
Arab states.
Trump previously deployed a large force in the Caribbean before the American
military captured former Venezuelan leader Nicols Maduro in January. In the
current situation, the U.S. is seen as focused on possibly seizing Iran's oil
terminal at Kharg Island or other sites near the strait.
U.S. Navy Adm. Brad Cooper, who commands the American military in the
region, said his forces have hit more than 10,000 targets since Israel and the
U.S. started the war Feb. 28, destroying 92% of Iran's largest ships and more
than two-thirds of the country's missile, drone and naval production facilities.
"We're not done yet," said Cooper, who heads the U.S. Central Command, in a
video message. "We are on a path to completely eliminate Iran's wider military
apparatus."
Iran seen as operating Strait of Hormuz as 'de facto toll booth'
With its stranglehold on traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which leads
from the Persian Gulf toward the open ocean, Iran has been blocking ships it
perceives as linked to the U.S. and Israeli war effort, but letting through a
trickle of others.
Jasem Mohamed al-Budaiwi, of the Gulf Cooperation Council, accused Iran of
charging for safe passage through the strait -- the first top official to do
so. Al-Budaiwi oversees the GCC, a bloc of six Gulf Arab nations including
Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The Fars and Tasnim news agencies, both close to Iran's paramilitary
Revolutionary Guard, quoted lawmaker Mohammadreza Rezaei Kouchi as saying that
parliament was working to formalize the process of charging fees to let ships
pass.
"We provide its security, and it is natural that ships and oil tankers
should pay such fees," he was quoted as saying.
Lloyd's List Intelligence called it a "de facto 'toll booth' regime."
The shipping intelligence firm said vessels have to provide manifests, crew
details and their destination to Iran's Guard for sanctions screening, cargo
alignment checks that currently prioritizes oil over all other commodities, and
for what is described as 'geopolitical vetting.'"
"While not all ships are paying a direct toll, at least two vessels have and
the payment is settled in yuan," Lloyd's List said, referring to China's
currency.
Iran's grip on the strait and relentless attacks on Gulf regional energy
infrastructure has sent oil prices skyrocketing and concerns of a global energy
crisis surging. Brent crude, the international standard, traded at US$104 early
Thursday, up more than 40% from the day the war started.
"To make it crystal clear, this war is a catastrophe for world's economies,"
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told reporters during a visit to
Australia.
US maintains negotiations are ongoing but Iran says there are no talks
Using Pakistan as an intermediary, Washington has delivered to Iran a
15-point ceasefire proposal, which includes the reopening of the Strait of
Hormuz.
Trump, speaking at a fundraiser Wednesday night in Washington, insisted that
Iran still wants to cut a deal.
"They are negotiating, by the way, and they want to make a deal so badly,
but they're afraid to say it because they figure they'll be killed by their own
people," Trump said.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in an interview on state TV,
however, that his government has not engaged in talks to end the war, "and we
do not plan on any negotiations."
Araghchi said the U.S. had tried to send messages to Iran through other
nations, "but that is not a conversation nor a negotiation."
Press TV, the English-language broadcaster on Iranian state television, said
Iran has its own five-point proposal, which includes "sovereignty over the
Strait of Hormuz."
But Ishaq Dar, Pakistan's top diplomat, said Thursday that indirect talks
between the United States and Iran were ongoing. The comment marked the first
time Islamabad has publicly acknowledged being the channel for negotiations.
"US-Iran indirect talks are taking place through messages being relayed by
Pakistan," Dar wrote on X.
A wave of Israeli airstrikes hits as Iran fires on Gulf neighbors
Israel said it carried out a wave of attacks early on Thursday targeting
Iranian infrastructure, and air defenses were heard in Tehran, while heavy
strikes were also reported around Isfahan, a city some 330 kilometers (205
miles) south of the Iranian capital.
Ifahan is home to a major Iranian air base and other military sites, as well
as one of the nuclear sites bombed by the U.S. during the 12-day war between
Israel and Iran in June.
Sirens sounded very early on Thursday morning in parts of Tel Aviv and
cities in central Israel and later explosions were heard in Jerusalem. Rescue
workers said two people were injured in a blast in Kfar Qasim.
Saudi Arabia's Defense Ministry said it intercepted multiple drones over its
oil-rich Eastern Province, and Bahrain reported extinguishing a blaze in a
neighborhood that is home to the Bahrain International Airport.
Since the war began, more than 1,500 people have been killed in Iran, its
Health Ministry says. Seventeen people have been killed in Israel while three
Israeli soldiers have also been killed in Lebanon, including one whose death
was announced Thursday. At least 13 American troops have been killed. Four
people have been killed in the occupied West Bank and 20 in Gulf Arab states.
Nearly 1,100 people have died in Lebanon, authorities said. In Iraq, where
Iran-backed militias have entered the conflict, 80 members of the security
forces have been killed.
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