Iran diplomatic offensive amid Trump threats of renewed strikes, Digi Mart USA News: Iran has stepped up diplomatic efforts amid suggestions by United States President Donald Trump that the US could resume full-scale strikes on Iran. Axios quoted a US official saying that US Central Command (CENTCOM) was preparing for the resumption of major military operations and was waiting only on orders from Washington.
On Thursday, Trump told reporters the US may have to “destroy” the rest of Iran, adding that people will “know soon enough” if he acts. Tehran’s push follows Iran’s downing of two US reconnaissance drones near Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, which the US had struck earlier this week.
Iran says it will retaliate if the US resumes larger strikes.
Iran offered the US a new nuclear and peace proposal via Qatari mediators on Thursday, to be discussed only after Washington meets Tehran’s seven demands, a senior Iranian official told Reuters. Reuters reported that the US is examining the proposal.
Iran has made meeting its seven demands a condition for reopening the Strait of Hormuz and restarting peace talks, including on its nuclear programme. The demands include lifting sanctions on Iran, unfreezing Iranian assets and ending the US naval blockade of its ports in and around the Strait of Hormuz, among other things.
Meanwhile, the US has insisted a deal on Iran’s nuclear capacity must be part of any ceasefire agreement before wider peace talks can restart.
Iran has also stepped up ties with Russia. Its top security official, Mohsen Rezaei, travelled to Moscow for talks on Thursday, where he met Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin to deliver a message from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.
Iranian state media did not elaborate on the message’s contents. Rezaei called it “an extremely important exchange,” according to remarks reported by the Iranian embassy.
The Financial Times reported that Russia previously agreed to supply Iran with 90 helicopter-mounted launchers for precision-guided missiles, citing a Russian defence manufacturer’s production schedule for 2024 and 2025. The newspaper said the order was assigned a code used to refer to Iran in Russian defence documents.
Nicole Grajewski, a non-resident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told the FT the move indicates Russia’s willingness to keep supplying Iran despite its own wartime demands.
Images released by the Kremlin showed foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov and military intelligence chief Igor Kostyukov attending the meeting with Putin and Iran’s security chief. Rezaei said the discussions included the construction of gas pipelines from Russia to Iran, which he said would address Iran’s gas shortages and facilitate sales of Russian energy to neighbouring countries.
Tehran said Iran’s natural gas refineries were hit during the most intense phase of US-Israeli strikes earlier this year, which lasted 40 days.
Separately, Russia’s Foreign Ministry advised citizens against travel to Iran “in light of the remaining risks of a new escalation around Iran.” During the most intense fighting, Iran struck bases in Gulf countries hosting US military assets, as well as civil and energy facilities and infrastructure. Senior Iranian officials have repeatedly warned that any state helping the US target Iran will be a “legitimate target” should US attacks resume.
On Thursday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held phone calls with several Gulf leaders, including UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, according to Araghchi’s Telegram channel. He also spoke with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, according to the Saudi foreign ministry, and discussed de-escalation with the foreign ministers of Kuwait and Turkiye.
In a separate call, Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani discussed coordinating to reduce tensions, and Oman’s foreign ministry said the safety of passage through the Strait of Hormuz was a main topic of its call with Araghchi.
Iran continues to tightly control shipping lanes through the strait, where several ships have been damaged in recent days. It has granted exemptions to shipping restrictions to Iraq, Qatar, India and China.
Despite his Republican Party suffering a drubbing in this week’s US midterm elections, largely because of public anger over the war on Iran and the resulting rise in energy prices, Trump has refused to rule out further strikes.
Former Iranian diplomat Hadi Afghahi told Al Jazeera that Tehran can ease the path to a settlement if the US also shows flexibility, arguing that Trump “really does not want to go to war, because war again will cost him more.” Afghahi cautioned that Trump “is still surrounded by a group of hawks,” including the energy and treasury secretaries. Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani discussed diplomatic efforts to ease regional tensions in a phone call with Trump on Friday, according to the Qatari Emiri Diwan, which said the leaders reviewed Doha-led mediation efforts aimed at “a comprehensive agreement that puts an end to the crisis.”
Tehran has warned it will retaliate on a wider scale than before if the US resumes the war, and has said talks will become unfeasible. Iranian officials said Iran can strike beyond the Gulf using weapons manufactured in Iran.
A spokesman for the Supreme Advisor to the Commander of the Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said that “in the event of a new aggression, any country or force that helps America attack Iran can be a legitimate target.” Iran has also warned that cables, data centres and artificial intelligence facilities across the Gulf could be attacked if war erupts again.
In the run-up to the midterm elections, the US said it had conducted “defensive strikes” on Iran’s Qeshm Island and Bandar Lengeh in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps navy said at least seven tankers have caught fire after sailing into mines while attempting to transit the strait using “unauthorised routes” near Oman this week, and that two oil tankers caught fire and were brought to a stop after hitting mines on Friday.
Maritime organisations have not confirmed the latest incidents.
Control over the Strait of Hormuz has been a main stumbling block in negotiations to end the Iran war, which began in February. Tehran has sought to limit traffic through the waterway, which normally carries about one-fifth of global oil supplies.
The US has also imposed a blockade on Iranian ports and escorted tankers through the strait.
