\n\tBy Jennifer A. Dlouhy and Courtney McBride<\/p>\n
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\n\tThe US struck military targets in Iran after the country fired on three Navy destroyers sailing in the Strait of Hormuz, an escalation that threatened to break apart a fragile ceasefire and reignite hostilities even as the two sides say they\u2019re discussing an end to the war.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cJust like we knocked them out again today, we\u2019ll knock them out a lot harder, and a lot more violently, in the future, if they don\u2019t get their Deal signed, FAST!\u201d President Donald Trump said in a social media post.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\n\tTrump told reporters the ceasefire was still in effect despite the back-and-forth, downplaying Iran\u2019s actions while warning of consequences if a deal wasn\u2019t struck.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\n\t\u201cThey trifled with us today. We blew them away,\u201d Trump said in a brief appearance in Washington at the reflecting pool on the National Mall.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\n\t\u201cI\u2019ll let you know when there\u2019s no ceasefire,\u201d he added. \u201cYou\u2019re not going to have to know, you\u2019ll just have to look at one big glow coming out of Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\n\tThe latest clash heightens tensions in the region as the US attempts to exit a war now in its third month. The Trump administration has been waiting on Iran to respond to its proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the conflict, which has killed thousands of people and triggered a global energy crisis.<\/p>\n
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\n\tIran\u2019s assault on three US warships involved \u201cmultiple missiles, drones and small boats,\u201d according to a US Central Command statement, which added that \u201cno US assets were struck.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\n\tThe US forces \u201celiminated inbound threats and targeted Iranian military facilities responsible for attacking US forces including missile and drone launch sites; command and control locations; and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance nodes,\u201d according to Central Command.<\/p>\n
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\n\tIran\u2019s leaders hadn\u2019t indicated whether they\u2019ll accept the terms of the offer, though they\u2019ve previously shown little sign of yielding on their nuclear program and accepting a moratorium on enriching uranium \u2014 both top American demands.<\/p>\n
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\n\tStocks fell and oil whipsawed earlier Thursday amid doubts that a deal could be reached and the vital Strait of Hormuz reopened. US stock-index futures fell in early Asia hours before recovering as the escalations rattled investors.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\n\tEven still, the president told reporters in Washington late Thursday that a deal was still possible.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\u201cIt might not happen, but it could happen any day. I believe they want the deal more than I do,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\u201cInvestors are now assuming some resolution in the next month or so in terms of the Iran war or Strait of Hormuz, we are seeing energy prices down and everything else up,\u201d said Jun Bei Liu, co-founder of hedge fund Ten Cap Investment Management. \u201cNow near term, there might be volatility re news headlines like today, but market will move to buy the dip unless new flare up becomes severe.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\n\tIn a bid to ease the crisis, the US president had announced \u201cProject Freedom,\u201d an initiative to help ships transit the strait, before abruptly suspending it. Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have lifted restrictions on the US military\u2019s ability to use regional bases, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, indicating that could allow the Trump administration to restart the effort to ease traffic through the strait.<\/p>\n
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\n\tA Central Command official referred to the Saudi and Kuwaiti governments on the reporting around the bases. Responding to whether Project Freedom would be restarted, the official declined to speculate on future operations. The Kuwaiti and Saudi embassies did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n
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\n\tWashington has relayed a one-page memo to the Islamic Republic that could reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz and lift the US blockade of Iranian ports, according to the person familiar with the matter. That would set the stage for a month of talks aimed at securing a final agreement to bring the 10-week conflict to a close.<\/p>\n
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\n\tIran is expected to send a response via Pakistan, acting as a mediator, in the next two days, a person familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, asking not to be identified discussing sensitive information. Iran\u2019s state-affiliated news agency ISNA said reports on elements of the proposal amount to \u201cmedia speculation and atmosphere-building,\u201d adding that nuclear enrichment is not part of the current discussions.<\/p>\n
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\n\tTrump has come under intense domestic and international pressure to wrap up the conflict, with polls showing a growing distaste among Americans, six months from midterm elections in which energy costs will be a central focus. Gasoline prices breached $4.50 a gallon for the first time since July 2022, according to the American Automobile Association.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\n\tAdding further urgency for a resolution, Trump is set to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on May 14-15 in Beijing. The summit has\u00a0already\u00a0been rescheduled once because of the war, which has triggered a global energy crisis hitting top importers of Gulf crude, including China.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\n\tTrump said Wednesday the US was \u201cgoing to get\u201d the Islamic Republic\u2019s stockpile of highly enriched uranium as part of the agreement, though there\u2019s been no indication Tehran is willing to make that concession.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\n\tOther outstanding issues include limits on Iran\u2019s ballistic missile program and its support for allied militant groups such as Lebanon\u2019s Hezbollah. Israel said it killed a Hezbollah commander in a southern suburb of Beirut, its first strike on the city since a ceasefire began in Lebanon last month.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\n\tThose are priorities for Israel, whose officials struck a cautious tone on the latest US push to wind down the campaign against Iran. Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon told Army Radio on Thursday that \u201cwe need to wait and not come out with declarations and headlines\u201d about a potential deal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\n\tPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was in close coordination with the US on peace efforts with \u201cno surprises.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Jennifer A. Dlouhy and Courtney McBride \u00a0
The US struck military targets in Iran after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":103293,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[35912,29105,38,5179,34,196,3206,11494,35911,12130,101,69,30839,860,1080],"class_list":["post-103292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tehran","tag-ceasefire-tensions","tag-diplomatic-deal","tag-donald-trump","tag-global-energy-security","tag-iran","tag-iran-war","tag-middle-east-escalation","tag-military-strikes","tag-naval-destroyers","tag-oil-crisis","tag-strait-of-hormuz","tag-tehran","tag-tehran-washington-tensions","tag-us-strikes-iran","tag-us-iran-conflict"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116536399791166980","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103292"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103292\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}