President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Israel and Lebanon have extended a precarious ceasefire by three weeks while the United States and Iran were at a standstill in talks to put an end to the Middle East conflict.
Despite recent Israeli attacks in Lebanon and new rocket fire from Iran-backed Hezbollah, which were not discussed during the Washington negotiations, Trump declared the continuation of the truce while meeting with the ambassadors of the two nations.
“I think there’s a very good chance of having peace. I think it should be an easy one,” Trump told reporters on Thursday. The initial truce had been set to expire on Sunday.
Still, the US president said earlier he was in no rush to end the war with Iran, adding that “the clock is ticking” for the Islamic republic as a third American aircraft carrier arrived in the Middle East.
Iranian media reported blasts over the capital Tehran, a first since the ceasefire in the Middle East war came into effect two weeks ago.
It was not clear what caused the explosions, though an Israeli security source told AFP that their country was not currently striking Iran.
Prospective peace talks in Pakistan were hanging in the balance, meanwhile, with no sign of a return to diplomacy to end a standoff in the Strait of Hormuz.
A fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas shipments typically pass through the Strait of Hormuz, therefore since the ceasefire, the United States and Iran have turned their attention to this waterway. Iran has essentially shut it down as payback for the conflict.
“I have all the time in the World, but Iran doesn’t — The clock is ticking!” Trump said on social media.
Trump, who on Thursday ruled out the use of a nuclear weapon against Iran, had earlier ordered the US Navy to destroy any Iranian boat caught laying mines in Hormuz.
*
Email *
Website
