Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: While there is little tangible progress in a potential Washington-Tehran peace deal, the frozen Iran war threatened to boil up again on Tuesday with the US launching fresh strikes on Southern Iran, including its missile launch sites, in “self-defence,” the media reported.
The strikes were done “to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces,” but the military was “using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire,” Captain Tim Hawkins, the spokesman for the US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM), said in a statement.
It remains unclear when or how any peace deal with Iran might be completed.
The US military said that it carried out “self-defence” strikes in Southern Iran, including on missile launch sites and boats placing mines, even as President Donald Trump said on social media that negotiations with Tehran were “proceeding nicely.”
Further details were not immediately available, including more specifics on the threats from Iran and what this means for negotiations. There was no official response from Iran, which had sent its parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf to Qatar for negotiations over the possible deal with the US.
Qatar, which faced intense attacks from Iran during the stalled war, which began on February 28 following joint US-Israeli air attacks on Iran—until a fragile ceasefire came into effect on April 8—holds billions of dollars in frozen Iranian funds.
In Iran, the news website Tabnak, believed to be close to former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) chief Mohsen Rezaei, identified four dead IRGC troops it said had been killed in fresh American strikes on boats. Iranian state television separately reported blasts around Bandar Abbas, a city on the Strait of Hormuz and home to a military port and a dual-use airport.
The strikes were the latest attacks to shake the weekslong ceasefire in the war. The Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of all crude oil and natural gas traded once passed, remains effectively in Iran’s chokehold, disrupting global energy markets.
Abraham Accords 2.0
Earlier, the US President said any agreement to end the Iran war should include a requirement for several additional countries, including Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, to join the Abraham Accords, the US-brokered agreements from Trump’s first term aimed at normalizing relations with Israel.
The proposal came as the emerging Iran deal faced criticism from fellow Republicans who favour a harder line on Iran, and it could add new diplomatic complications to the negotiations.
Trump pointed to Saudi Arabia and Qatar as countries that should “immediately” sign on. Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates became the first countries to join the Abraham Accords in 2020, diplomatically recognizing Israel.
He wrote that “after all the work done by the United States to try and pull this very complex puzzle together, it should be mandatory that all of these Countries, at a minimum, simultaneously, sign onto the Abraham Accords.”
Trump has long hoped Saudi Arabia would join. Riyadh, in particular, has for decades called on Israel to return to its 1967 borders and allow the formation of a Palestinian nation with East Jerusalem as its capital. Israel’s conduct in the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip also has alienated Gulf Arab states and the wider Muslim world as well, the reports said.
The Accords are a series of diplomatic, economic and security agreements created with US influence during Trump’s first term, which also saw Sudan, Morocco, and, more recently, Kazakhstan join.
Pakistan
Recognition of a Palestinian state also remains key for Pakistan, which is among the countries that do not have diplomatic relations with Israel.
Reports from Islamabad, which is mediating between the US and Iran for a likely peace deal, suggested that Pakistan has ‘rejected’ Trump’s attempt to make it sign on the Abraham Accords 2.0.
Islamabad-based analyst Syed Mohammad Ali said Pakistan’s position on Israel remains unchanged despite Trump’s latest proposal.
The US President said he brought up the Abraham Accords 2.0 plan with leaders during negotiations on Saturday. He said he would accept “one or two” countries declining to sign, but said most should be willing. Egypt and Jordan already formally recognise Israel and have long-standing peace treaties. Turkey first recognized Israel in 1949.