Washington (United States) (AFP) – Top Iranian negotiators were in Doha Monday for talks to end the war with the United States, even as both sides downplayed prospects of an imminent deal. The fragile hope of an accord in recent days was dealt a fresh blow when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to “crush” Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, while US President Donald Trump made demands for a broad accord across the Middle East, involving normalization of ties with Israel, as part of any agreement with Iran.
Amid fresh threats and hurdles from the US-Israeli side, Trump enumerated pathways for Iran’s enriched uranium, a key sticking point in efforts to end the war, in a post to his Truth Social platform. “The Enriched Uranium (Nuclear Dust!) will either be immediately turned over to the United States to be brought home and destroyed or, preferably, in conjunction and coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran, destroyed in place or, at another acceptable location, with the Atomic Energy Commission, or its equivalent, being witness to this process and event,” Trump wrote. It was not clear if he meant this is part of an emerging accord with Iran. The Atomic Energy Commission that Trump cited was abolished in 1974 and its functions were divided between two successor bodies.
Earlier Monday, Trump said it should be mandatory for Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Pakistan, Egypt, Turkey, Bahrain and Jordan to sign up to the Abraham Accords, a set of agreements brokered in 2020 with nations historically hostile to Israel. Trump said he had spoken to the leaders of those countries Saturday about efforts to end the war with Iran. Bahrain and the UAE have already signed the accords, along with Morocco and Sudan.
US and Iranian forces have observed a ceasefire since April 8 while diplomats push for a negotiated settlement, although Iran has maintained controls on Gulf shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and the US Navy has sought to blockade Iran’s ports. Trump said earlier on Monday that a deal with Iran would either be “great and meaningful” or there would be “no deal.” But while the accords were welcomed by some, they remain deeply unpopular in many parts of the Middle East — in part because they fail to address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Gulf heavyweights like Saudi Arabia and Qatar have said they will never normalize ties with Israel unless an independent Palestinian state is created. Saudi Arabia’s position on the Palestinian issue remains unchanged, a Saudi source told Riyadh-based broadcaster Al Arabiya on Monday, adding that “there needs to be an irreversible pathway to a Palestinian state.”
Anna Jacobs of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington said Trump’s latest demand added to the disaster that has been the war on all fronts for Gulf nations. “The national security of the Gulf states has been threatened more than ever before because of President Trump’s reckless decisions, and he expects Arab states to thank him and to normalize relations with Israel, which they will not do at this stage,” she said. “These expectations and assumptions from this US administration shows how little they understand the Middle East.”
Trump’s maximalist demand came after top US diplomat Marco Rubio suggested a deal could be reached within the day, causing world oil prices to tumble based on renewed optimism about an agreement. “We thought we might have some news last night, maybe today,” Secretary of State Rubio told reporters during a visit to New Delhi, referring to hopes for a deal. “We have what I think is a pretty solid thing on the table in terms of their ability to open up the straits, get the straits open.” But Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei poured cold water on hopes for a quick final settlement. “It is correct to say that we have reached a conclusion on a large portion of the issues under discussion,” he told a weekly news briefing. “But to say that this means the signing of an agreement is imminent — no one can make such a claim.”
In Iran’s capital Tehran, residents who spoke to Paris-based journalists said they were losing patience at the lack of diplomatic progress. “We’re going crazy. Imagine getting hopeful 10 times a day, and disappointed 100 times a day,” said Amir, 40. “We’re all frustrated.”
On another front of the war, Netanyahu said Monday that he had ordered the military to intensify its offensive in Lebanon in an effort to “crush” Hezbollah, accusing the group of targeting Israeli forces with drone attacks. “I have ordered an even greater acceleration of our operations,” Netanyahu said in a video statement posted on his Telegram channel. The Israeli leader said Sunday that he and Trump had agreed that “any final agreement with Iran must eliminate the nuclear threat entirely” before peace was reached. Iranian officials have stressed that, despite the long-standing US demand for an end to its uranium enrichment, talks on the issue of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program have been deferred until after an initial agreement.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif — whose government is spearheading efforts to mediate a negotiated agreement between the United States and Iran — met China’s President Xi Jinping in Beijing. Speaking to Chinese leaders, Sharif said “the world is passing through a critical moment,” Pakistan’s state-run PTV channel showed.
© 2024 AFP
