President Donald Trump has threatened to bomb Oman – a US ally – if it « gets in the way » of his administration’s own talks with Iran, Fox News reports.

The US and Oman have been negotiating separately with Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that is vital to the global economy. It has been largely closed for nearly six months during the US-Iran war.

A reporter for Fox said the US president made the threat to Oman while using an expletive during a phone interview.

Earlier in the day, Iranian officials said they were close to finalising a deal with Oman. Meanwhile, the future of talks between the US and Iran is unclear as a 60-day Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two sides is expiring.

Since the US and Israel attacked Iran in February, Tehran has largely blocked the Strait of Hormuz – through which about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas usually passes. Reopening it has been a key point of discussion.

Oman borders the southern side of the Strait and says it is a neutral country in this conflict. However it has suffered a number of strikes from Iran and is now playing a key role in negotiating with Tehran to reopen the waterway.

Washington has pursued its own efforts to secure the reopening. Fox reporter Trey Yingst quoted Trump as saying: « If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the shit out of them. »

During the same interview with Fox, Trump also said the US had a direct backchannel with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which is a major military, economic and political force in Iran.

An IRGC spokesman denied Trump’s claim.

A spokesman told semi-official Iranian news agency Tasnim News: « There are no talks taking place between IRGC officials and the Americans, and this lie by Trump is merely fantasies caused by the delusions and nightmares he has suffered as a result of defeat and desperation in the war. »

Trump made his threat to Oman a few hours after Iran had said the two countries had reached an agreement for ships to travel through the Strait.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei told reporters « an understanding has been reached regarding the map of the transit route ».

He added that both sides would finalise the details before issuing a joint statement. Oman has previously described these talks as positive.

Earlier this month, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said a full reopening was dependant on Iran receiving compensation from the US for what Tehran described as violations of the MoU.

Reuters – citing an Iranian official – previously reported that Tehran was seeking fees of between 5% and 7% of the price of cargoes from vessels who travel through the Strait.

While Trump said in his call with Fox that he had a direct backchannel with the IRGC, he said he was in no hurry to bring the war to a close.

« They’re good poker players, but they’re dying, » he was quoted as saying. « I have no time schedule. I’m not in a hurry. »

The Memorandum of Understanding between the US and Iran, signed on 18 June, was designed to bring about a ceasefire and at least partly reopen the Strait of Hormuz. But it fell apart a short time later when both sides resumed strikes.

On 8 July, Trump said the ceasefire was « over » and blasted Iran’s leadership as « scum » and « cuckoo » after fresh exchanges of fire.

As the MoU neared its formal expiry on Monday, Trump posted on his Truth Social network: « The number one goal is, and always will be, that Iran cannot have, in any way, shape, or form, a nuclear weapon. »

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L’article Analysis. Trump threatens to bomb US ally Oman if it ‘gets in the way’ over Iran deal est apparu en premier sur World Opinion | Alternative Média.

War powers legislation talks reignite as Democrats push back on Trump’s justification for ‘preemptive’ strikes on Iran.

As the US and Israeli militaries expand their strikes on Iran, the administration of US President Donald Trump has alternated its justification for the war between preventing immediate attacks and countering the long-term existential threat of a nuclear Tehran.

This was on full display on Monday, with Trump and Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth appearing to make the case that the culmination of Iran’s regional policies in the 47 years since the Islamic revolution, coupled with the future of its ballistic and nuclear programmes, represented an immediate threat to the US.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, meanwhile, argued that Washington’s close ally Israel was planning to attack Iran. In which event, the administration expected Iran to strike US assets, therefore justifying launching a preemptive attack, he said.

To date, the administration has offered little clear evidence to support any of its claims, according to advocates and analysts, as well as Democratic lawmakers who have recently attended classified briefings.

“The reality is, they’ve put forth very little evidence, and that’s a huge problem,” Emma Belcher, the president of Ploughshares, a group that advocates for denuclearisation, told Al Jazeera.

“It says, one: They don’t think they need to [make the case] for the war; that they won’t necessarily be held to account for it,” Belcher said. “But it also says to me that the evidence quite possibly isn’t there, and that they want to avoid particular scrutiny.”

Republicans have largely coalesced around the administration’s messaging, even as Democrats have pledged to force votes on war powers legislation to assert constitutional authority over the president’s military action.

Still, the administration remains in a tenuous political position as Trump’s Republican Party stares down midterm elections in November. Early public polling indicates little outright support from the US public, even as Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) base has been staid in its response.

But the more days that pass, and the more US service members are killed, the more likely that Trump will be confronted with the contradictions to his past anti-interventionist promises.

“The longer it goes on and the more costly it is in terms of lives… the more the lack of evidence becomes an albatross around the neck of the administration – one that it will have to account for come November,” according to Benjamin Radd, a senior fellow at the UCLA Burkle Center’s international relations department.

A kaleidoscope of claims

Speaking from the White House on Monday, Trump praised the “obliteration of Iran’s nuclear programme” in US strikes last June. But moments later, he claimed that efforts to rebuild that programme, coupled with Iran’s ballistic missile programme, represented a menace to the US.

“An Iranian regime armed with long-range missiles and nuclear weapons would be an intolerable threat to the Middle East, but also to the American people,” Trump said. “Our country itself would be under threat, and it was very nearly under threat.”

Trump also said that, if not for US and Israeli attacks, Iran “would soon have had missiles capable of reaching our beautiful America”.

Daryl Kimball, the executive director of the Washington, DC-based Arms Control Association (ACA) said any claims of immediate or middle-term threats posed by Iran in terms of their ballistic and nuclear power are not supported by available evidence.

That is significant, as such “imminent threats” are required for a president justify attacks on foreign countries under both US domestic law and international law, save for approval from Congress.

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L’article Analysis.Trump admin offers scant evidence on Iranian threat in ‘America First’ war est apparu en premier sur World Opinion | Alternative Média.

Iran’s Tasnim and Mehr news agencies report that Khamenei remains “steadfast and firm in commanding the field”.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been killed in Israeli-US attacks, according to Israeli media reports and a senior Israeli official.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed there were “growing signs” that Khamenei was killed in the joint US-Israeli strikes, which were launched early on Saturday.

The Reuters news agency, citing an unnamed senior Israeli official, reported that Khamenei’s body has ⁠been located.

But Iran’s Tasnim and Mehr news agencies reported Khamenei remained “steadfast and firm in commanding the field”.

In what appeared to be a response to the claims, the head of public relations at Khamenei’s office accused the country’s enemies of “mental warfare”.

“The enemy is resorting to mental warfare, all should be aware,” the public relations official was quoted as saying by Iranian state media.

Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi said there has so far been no official confirmation from Tehran.

He noted that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told NBC News earlier that “as far as I know” Iran’s Supreme Leader, as well as other top Iranian officials remained in good health.

US President Donald Trump told NBC News in an interview that he believed reports of Khamenei’s death were a “correct story”

Saturday’s strikes on Iran targeted 24 provinces, killing at least 201 people, according to Iranian media reports, citing the Red Crescent.

Iran responded with a wave of counter attacks, targeting Israel and US military assets across the Middle East.

Netanyahu said in his address that many “senior figures” had been “eliminated” in the wave of military strikes targeting senior leaders as Trump called for the government to be toppled.

Israel, he said, had killed “commanders in the Revolutionary Guards and senior officials in the nuclear programme”. “And we will continue,” he said.

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L’article Reports. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei killed in US-Israeli attacks est apparu en premier sur World Opinion | Alternative Média.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister has denied reports that a meeting took place between Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Israeli officials on Sunday.

“I have seen press reports about a purported meeting between HRH the Crown Prince and Israeli officials during the recent visit by @SecPompeo. No such meeting occurred. The only officials present were American and Saudi,” Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud wrote on Twitter on Monday.

Israeli media reported earlier that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held secret talks in Saudi Arabia on Sunday with Crown Prince Mohammed, also known as MBS.

The reports by Israeli public broadcaster Kan and other outlets came weeks after Israel reached deals to establish relations with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan.

I have seen press reports about a purported meeting between HRH the Crown Prince and Israeli officials during the recent visit by @SecPompeo. No such meeting occurred. The only officials present were American and Saudi.

— فيصل بن فرحان (@FaisalbinFarhan) November 23, 2020

The deals were brokered by the administration of United States President Donald Trump, who leaves office in less than two months.

There has been widespread speculation, within Israel and the US, that Washington may push for other Arab states to follow suit before President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who was in Israel last week, was also at the reported talks, according to Kan’s diplomatic correspondent.

Pompeo has confirmed he was in Neom on the Red Sea as part of a Middle East Tour and met MBS.

Netanyahu’s office, US State Department and the US embassy to Israel had not commented on the reports.

Saudi stance

Publicly, Saudi Arabia has said it would stick to the decades-old Arab League position of not having ties with Israel until the Jewish state’s conflict with the Palestinians is resolved.

The Palestinians have condemned the normalisation deals as “a stab in the back”, urging Arab states to hold firm until Israel ends its occupation of Palestinian territory and agrees to the creation of a Palestinian state.

In late August, Netanyahu said Israel was holding “unpublicised meetings with Arab and Muslim leaders to normalise relations with the state of Israel”, without naming any countries.

But, amid speculation that smaller Arab states, such as Oman, were also interested in a deal, Saudi Arabia has stood out as the key target for Israel, given the kingdom’s wealth and influence.

Sunni Arab states, and especially Israel, worry that Biden may seek to revive the Iran nuclear deal agreed between Tehran and world powers during Barack Obama’s presidency, which was scrapped by Trump.

Trump’s administration has also downplayed the importance of human rights issues in international diplomacy and was particularly cautious about criticising Saudi Arabia’s rights record, notably about the murder by Saudi agents of prominent journalist and Saudi royal critic Jamal Khashoggi.

SOURCE : AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

L’article Saudi Arabia denies meeting between MBS and Israeli officials est apparu en premier sur World Opinion | Alternative Média.