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AP, DUBAI, United Arab Emirates
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US President Donald Trump yesterday threatened widespread destruction of Iran’s energy resources and other vital infrastructure, including desalination plants, if a deal to end the war with Tehran is not reached “shortly.”
On the ground, the conflict showed no sign of letting up: Tehran struck a key water and electrical plant in Kuwait, and an oil refinery in Israel came under attack. Israel and the US launched a new wave of strikes on Iran.
Trump’s new threat in a social media post and earlier comments in an interview with the Financial Times that suggested US troops could seize the Iran’s Kharg Island oil export hub highlighted a frequent tactic. On the one hand, he has repeatedly said that talks with Iran are going well — although Tehran denies negotiating directly. On the other hand, he has continually ramped up his threats and sent thousands more Marines and other US troops to the Middle East.
Rescuers work at a damaged building following a targeted Israeli strike in Beirut yesterday.
Photo: Reuters
It remains unclear where the diplomatic effort facilitated by Pakistan stands. Iran’s attacks on its Gulf neighbors could further complicate any talks. The United Arab Emirates — which has long billed itself as a beacon of safety and stability in a volatile region — has been hard hit in the war, and is signaling it wants Iran disarmed in any ceasefire. Iran’s theocracy likely would not accept that.
Trump says diplomacy is going well, but says military expansion is possible.
Trump on social media said that “great progress is being made” in talks with Iran to end military operations, but he bristled that if a deal is not reached “shortly” and if the Strait of Hormuz is not immediately reopened, the US would broaden its offensive by “completely obliterating” power plants, oil wells, Kharg Island and possibly even targeting desalination plants that supply drinking water.
The strait is a crucial waterway through which one-fifth of the world’s oil is shipped in peacetime.
In the Financial Times interview, Trump said that his preference would be to “take the oil in Iran” — a move that would require seizing Kharg Island, the terminal through which nearly all of Iran’s oil exports pass.
“Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don’t,” he added.
Iran has threatened to launch its own ground invasion of Gulf Arab countries and mine the Persian Gulf if US troops set foot on its territory.
Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Esmail Baghaei yesterday acknowledged that Tehran had received a 15-point proposal from the Trump administration, but said there had been no direct negotiations with Washington.
Meanwhile, sirens sounded at dawn near Israel’s main nuclear research center, a part of the country that has been targeted repeatedly. Israel’s military also said it had taken out two drones launched from Yemen, where the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels entered the war on Saturday with their first missile attack.
Iran kept up the pressure on its Gulf Arab neighbors: Saudi Arabia intercepted five missiles targeting its oil-rich Eastern province; a fireball erupted over Dubai, United Arab Emirates, as a missile was intercepted; and in Kuwait, an Iranian attack hit a power and desalination plant, killing one worker and wounding 10 soldiers, state-run KUNA news agency reported.
