US President Donald Trump is still confident of a peace deal in the Middle East conflict as it passes the 100-day mark. Photo / Getty Images
The United States said it shot down a pair of Iranian drones threatening the Strait of Hormuz, as the Middle East war reached its 100th day with no end in sight.
The milestone came as mediator Pakistan delivered a message to Iran’s Supreme Leader following weeks of indirect negotiations punctuated by tit-for-tat threats and sporadic exchanges of fire.
And it puts a spotlight on initial estimates by US President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth that the conflict would last four to five weeks.
Efforts to turn a ceasefire into a lasting settlement have repeatedly stalled, while the war has rattled global markets and increased domestic pressure on US President Donald Trump ahead of midterm elections.
Fresh diplomatic efforts were made over the weekend, with Pakistan’s interior minister Mohsin Naqvi visiting Tehran.
Naqvi said upon his arrival that he would deliver a “special letter” from Pakistani army chief to Iran’s Supreme Leader.
Pakistani military leader Syed Asim Munir has played a key role in mediating between Iran and the US following an initial round of direct negotiations in Islamabad.
Lebanese army chief Rodolphe Haykal travelled to Pakistan for his own talks with Munir, as Beirut also seeks a permanent end to the parallel conflict playing out on its soil between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Iran insists Lebanon be included in any agreement to end the regional war, and a source with knowledge of Haykal’s visit said it was “linked to the Pakistani mediation” between Tehran and Washington.
US Central Command (Centcom) said it destroyed two Iranian drones “that threatened international maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz”.
A previous drone interception and strikes on Iranian radar sites had prompted Tehran to fire missiles at US allies Bahrain and Kuwait.
Iran’s chief negotiator warned that an Israeli strike on south Beirut and the ongoing US blockade of Iranian ports would trigger retaliation.
In a social media post, parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf accused Washington of giving Israel the “green light” for strikes that hit two targets in the Lebanese capital.
This and the blockade, he said, “turns the bases and assets of America and the [Israeli] regime in the region into legitimate targets. Our armed forces, as always, are free to act”.
Trump urges ‘surgical’ strikes against Hezbollah
Trump has called for more “surgical” strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon and said he was not demanding the conflict be included in a peace deal with Iran.
He said: “I’d like to see a more surgical attack on Hezbollah. I think it should be more surgical. I’d like to see Lebanon have a better life.”
Israel carried out strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut, a stronghold of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah, saying it was retaliating for attacks targeting its territory despite a ceasefire that has not stopped the cycle of violence.
Asked whether he was demanding that Lebanon be included in the Iran deal, Trump replied: “No, no. Not at all. I’m not demanding. I think they’d like to see it, but I’m not demanding.”
Trump has said previously he would like to “separate” the discussions on Lebanon from the negotiations on an agreement with Iran, while Tehran, on the contrary, wants to link the two conflicts.
Lebanon was drawn into the wider war when Hezbollah attacked Israel on March 2 in support of Iran.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that his military had “struck a militant command centre” in Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, in response to “fire towards Israeli territory”.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said the strikes targeted two apartments in two buildings.
Iran assets will stay frozen until deal
Trump said that he would not unfreeze Iranian assets before reaching an agreement with Tehran.
Asked whether he would be willing, as part of a potential agreement, to unfreeze Iranian assets or lift certain sanctions against Iran, Trump replied: “No. [That] comes after. If they behave, if they do a good job, we start talking.”
Iran has demanded that billions in frozen assets be unblocked.
According to a source, the US Treasury is considering the possibility that Iran’s assets could be tapped to compensate Gulf states for damages caused by Iranian strikes.
Trump reiterated that he knew exactly where the enriched uranium was located in Iran and wanted to recover it one way or another, while remaining vague about whether he would send in US troops to do so.
He said: “If we make a deal, if we make a deal now we’re friendly, we’ll all go together [to recover the uranium]... “We’ll take it out and destroy it.”
- AFP