US President Donald Trump has stepped up his threats of bigger bombing onslaught on Iran if the Tehran regime fails to agree a peace deal with America soon – as negotiators press on
US President Donald Trump has ramped up fears of full-scale war returning to the Middle East — threatening the bombs will “restart” if a deal is not struck.
Mr Trump re-issued his threat hours after pausing his Project Freedom bid to free hundreds of ships stranded in the Strait of Hormuz by the Iranian blockade. He warned: “If they don’t agree, the bombing starts, and it will be, sadly, at a much higher level and intensity than it was before.”
The Navy section of Iran’s shadowy Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed “safe and stable” passageway through the strait will be “ensured. It continued that the “aggressor’s threats were neutralised” — referring to the pause in “Project Freedom.” Mr Trump’s warning came a day after his Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the offensive stage of the Iran war was now ‘over.’
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It is believed the US has submitted a one-page memorandum to end the war, including an end to uranium enrichment, a lifting of US sanctions, the distribution of frozen Iranian funds and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. The US President admitted it was “perhaps a big assumption” that Iran would agree.
France’s aircraft carrier strike group is moving south of the Suez Canal and into the Red Sea in preparation for a potential future mission as part of a French-British plan for the Strait of Hormuz. The repositioning of the nuclear-powered Charles de Gaulle puts France’s only carrier closer to the Persian Gulf chokepoint where Iran has effectively halted commercial traffic since early March.
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The French effort is distinct from the US “Project Freedom” mission launched Sunday and paused by Mr Trump on Tuesday evening. A cargo container ship operated by the CMA GGM Group was damaged when it came under attack while transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday.
Multiple crew members were injured in the attack on the CMA CGM San Antonio, and they were taken off the ship for medical treatment. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi claimed Iran has attained “an elevated international standing,” having proven its capabilities and strength.
China’s Foreign Ministry said after a meeting with Aragchi that it values Iran’s pledge not to pursue nuclear weapons while affirming its “legitimate right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy.” Israeli air attacks on southern and eastern Lebanon have killed more than a dozen people and wounded more than a dozen in recent days.
At least four died and three others were wounded in an Israeli air strike attack on the town of Zellaya in eastern Lebanon. Israel also launched an attack on southern Lebanon using fighter jets and drones, while the village of Mayfadoun was shelled with artillery, resulting in two deaths.
It was also claimed five more people were killed and 15 others wounded in an Israeli attack in Siksikiyah in southern Lebanon. Israel issued forced displacement orders for 12 villages in southern Lebanon, warning residents to remain at least a mile from their homes.
Most of the villages affected were in the north of the Litani River — an area not currently under Israeli military occupation. Israel said it was responding to a violation of the ceasefire by Hezbollah.
Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah renewed on March 2 after the Iran-backed group fired rockets at its southern neighbour, following the US and Israel’s launch of a war against Iran.
Since then, Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed about 2,700 people and displaced more than 1.2 million. Israeli forces have also destroyed entire villages in southern Lebanon, prompting comparisons with the devastation caused by Israel’s war against the Palestinians in Gaza.
