Post #5458

🔤🔤🔤🔤➖ This is a fluid situation, and speculation about meetings should not be deemed as final until they are formally announced by the White House.” Oman, Turkey, Egypt and Pakistan have all been reported to have been involved in efforts to broker an end to hostilities in recent days, but it is unclear how substantial or productive such contacts have been. Oman’s foreign minister, Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi, said on Monday that Oman was working hard to secure safe passage through the strait of Hormuz. Keir Starmer told a parliamentary committee on Monday that the UK was aware discussions were happening. The EU chief, Ursula von der Leyen, called for an immediate end to hostilities, describing a “critical” situation for energy supply chains globally. “We all feel the knock-on effects on gas and oil prices on our businesses and our societies,” von der Leyen said on Tuesday, on a visit to Australia. “It is of utmost importance that we come to a solution that is negotiated, and this puts an end to the hostilities that we see in the Middle East,” she added. In reaction to the intensifying energy crisis, Japan said it will release another part of its strategic oil reserves from Thursday, and will tap into joint stockpiles held by producing nations in the country by the end of the month. Early on Tuesday, state-run Iranian media reported another round of missiles fired at Israel, and rescue services in Israel showed images of a damaged building in the north but reported no casualties. Lebanese state media said Israel carried out seven air raids on south Beirut overnight. In all his comments, Trump declined to say with whom the US was speaking in Iran. “We’re dealing with the man who, I believe, is the most respected and the ‘leader’. It’s a little tough – we’ve wiped out everybody,” Trump said, stating only that the US had not talked to current supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei. A senior Iranian official told Reuters the US had requested a meeting with Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, but that the supreme national security council had yet to decide on any proposed talks and Iran had yet to respond. Qalibaf himself described “fake news (…) used to manipulate the financial and oil markets”. The Fars news agency, which is linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), had earlier also denied any talks, saying there were neither direct nor indirect communications with the US. Iran’s IRGC said they were launching fresh attacks on US targets, and described Trump’s words as “psychological operations” that were “worn out” and having no impact on Tehran’s fight. The Iranian state news agency Irna quoted a foreign ministry spokesperson as saying “friendly countries” had sent messages indicating that the US wanted talks to end the war but none had taken place. Iran has been defiant in the face of Trump’s threats and more than three weeks of the joint US-Israeli offensive. In response to Sunday’s ultimatum, Tehran threatened to target power plants supplying US bases across the Middle East, vital desalination facilities in Gulf countries, and to intensify strikes on Israel. #tehran#iran#israel#trump#hormuz#operation 📱American Оbserver - Stay up to date on all important events 🇺🇸