Iran Gives Washington an “Ultimatum;” Trump Hardens His Tone Further

The 60-day truce during which Tehran and Washington were supposed to pursue talks toward a lasting peace ended Monday on a bellicose note, with both sides maintaining their positions. Tensions have flared anew between the two sides, who agree on just one thing: neither intends to give ground.

Applying the old adage that the best defense is a good offense, Iran has apparently opted for an “entirely” offensive strategy, going so far as to give Washington an “ultimatum” (!) of “a few weeks” to “honor the terms of last June’s memorandum of understanding,” Reuters reported Monday, citing a senior Iranian official.

According to Reuters, Tehran intends to act if diplomatic efforts with the United States fail. “Iranian entities should stand ready for escalating tensions in the Strait of Hormuz and the wider region, because Iran will be prepared to make decisions and act on difficult choices,” the official said, adding that his country would carry out a “timely and precise” military strike to break the American naval blockade.

Going even further in its arrogance and in its typical “victor” behavior of imposing its terms on the defeated (!), the Islamic Republic “demands that, within the short deadline of a few weeks that has been set, the United States implement all the provisions of” the June agreement. “That is a precondition for continuing negotiations with Washington,” the Iranian official told Reuters, adding that mediators would relay Tehran’s deadline to Washington and to states in the region.

This “warning” in fact illustrates just how severely U.S. economic sanctions and the naval blockade are suffocating Iran, which is grappling with serious economic and financial difficulties and is therefore ready to do whatever it takes to pull through. It came just hours after U.S. President Donald Trump gave an interview to Fox News, in which he reaffirmed his determination to tighten the sanctions further, reiterating the war’s primary objective: “Preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.” The president said he was not “pressed for time,” an allusion to November’s midterm elections. He nevertheless made a surprising move, threatening Oman with military strikes should it “get in the way” of a deal over the Strait of Hormuz, another source of conflict between Tehran and Washington.

An Iranian official again said on Monday that his country was on the verge of reaching an agreement with Muscat on navigation through the strategic maritime passage, but the United States fears that such an agreement could come at the expense of freedom of navigation for ships in the Strait of Hormuz, which is part of international waters.

In his phone interview with Fox News, Donald Trump nevertheless said that a diplomatic resolution with Tehran remained possible, while noting that “the Iranians do not appear to want a diplomatic solution at this time.” He nonetheless called on Tehran to “raise the white flag of surrender,” before reiterating that an indirect channel of communication existed with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The ICRG were quick to deny it. Their spokesman, Hossein Mohammadi, said there was “no form of contact” with the Americans, accusing Trump of “rambling.” According to Axios, Kurdish leader Nechirvan Barzani is said to be the link between the ICRG and Washington and to have worked to arrange a meeting between the two sides.

Tensions on the Ground

The verbal escalation, which has in fact been building for several days, is being matched by real tensions on the ground, all of them stoked by Iran’s allies in the region. It is against this backdrop that the Houthis have carried out near-daily strikes – two of them on Monday alone – against Saudi targets, as well as Saturday’s explosive drone attack by Hezbollah on Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon, which triggered a fierce retaliation from the Israeli military.

Overnight Sunday into Monday, two booby-trapped drones targeted, without causing casualties, the office of Iraqi Kurdistan’s prime minister, Masrour Barzani, as well as the residence of the region’s intelligence chief, near Erbil. Suspicion immediately fell on Tehran, which did not respond to the accusations. Iraqi Kurdistan, an ally of the United States but a neighbor of Iran, has come under repeated attack since the regional war began.

While the Iranian file remains stalled, those concerning Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon are inching forward. On a visit to Israel, President Trump’s envoy, Jared Kushner, held a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a day after speaking with Hamas representatives in Egypt. At the heart of the discussions: the second phase of the American plan, which calls in particular for Hamas’s disarmament and an Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza – terms Tel Aviv disputes. Israel is demanding “genuine” disarmament of Hamas, which for its part wants the weapons placed in storage depots.

Against this backdrop, Israel is insisting that this pro-Iranian faction play no role in the enclave. According to several converging sources cited by Western and Israeli media, Kushner is said to have secured a commitment to that effect from Hamas representatives and relayed it to Netanyahu. According to the Jerusalem Post, Hamas’s weapons would be handed over to the Americans, who would destroy them. The Israeli prime minister reportedly assured his guest that Israel would withdraw from Gaza once that process is complete, the Jerusalem Post also reported.

That points to Lebanon, where Hezbollah still rejects the very principle of its own disarmament, even though that disarmament should take place sooner or later, given the shifts underway across the region. When, and how? It remains to be seen how Lebanese authorities will handle the matter.

For now, Beirut wants to see the mandate of UNIFIL, which expires at the end of the year, extended – or, at the very least, an international force put in place to take over from the U.N. mission.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam both echoed that wish on the eve of a U.N. Security Council meeting on Lebanon. A petition to that effect, signed by 86 Lebanese MP’s and addressed to the Security Council, was handed to Salam on Monday.

Finally, in a separate matter, Donald Trump announced he wants to “significantly reduce” American participation in joint military exercises with South Korea. The exercises nonetheless began as scheduled on Monday. The American president justified the decision by citing the cost of the exercises and his “very good relationship” with Kim Jong-Un.