Trump says Iran peace negotiations could be reached ‘over the weekend’
Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday that Iran is “pretty close” to signing a peace agreement with the US and that “it could happen over the weekend”.
“Anything can happen when you’re dealing with Iran … That’s a very volatile part of the world, probably the most volatile part of the world. The people are volatile. The leadership, you see what’s going on,” he said.
But he went on to say that negotiations were going well and that Tehran and Washington could reach an agreement within days. He maintained that the heart of the negotiations come down to Iran agreeing to never own, develop or buy a nuclear weapon.
Trump said that given the strength of the US military, “we could go another two, three weeks and just wipe everybody out”.
“I’d rather not do that,” he said. “It’s very easy to do. They’re ready to do it, they want to do it but if we can get something down in writing that can accomplish the same thing without killing everybody, I’d like to do that. Most of my people would like to do that. Some people wouldn’t, but most people would.”
Key events
House passes war powers resolution to curb Trump’s authority in Iran
Robert Tait
The US House of Representatives delivered a stunning rebuke to Donald Trump over his war on Iran on Wednesday, as representatives backed a move to force him to seek approval from Congress or withdraw US forces.
The House voted 215 to 208 in favor of the war powers resolution, as four Republicans voted with Democrats.
Wednesday’s vote came nearly two weeks after House Republicans cancelled an earlier scheduled vote, on the grounds that they lacked the votes to defeat it.
The Senate voted last month to advance a resolution forcing Trump to seek congressional approval after four Republican senators rebelled and voted with the Democrats.
More here:
Israel, Netanayahu have been ‘a great partner’, Trump says
Donald Trump continued his remarks on Wednesday by calling Israel and the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, “a great partner”.
“Israel, hey look, they’ve been a great partner. Bibi Netanyahu’s been, for me, a great partner. For other people, not so good. For me, he’s been very good,” Trump said.
Trump continued:
“We were very effective, what we’ve done. They needed us. They couldn’t have done it without us, couldn’t even come close. They needed us and they got us to help them with a real problem because Iran was a real problem, a big problem, a worldwide problem. They wouldn’t have stopped with Israel. They would have blown up the Middle East.”
Trump says he wants to separate Lebanon, Iran peace talks
Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he wanted to separate Lebanon from the Iran peace talks because “it’s a very different kind of thing”.
Iran has long insisted that any deal to end the wider Middle East war – which its ally Hezbollah joined on 2 March – must also halt the fighting in Lebanon.
”We’re trying to separate it. It’s a very different kind of a thing. We actually spoke to Hezbollah for the first time ever. We didn’t know they spoke,” Trump said. “They agreed yesterday that they’re not going to shoot, Israel isn’t going to shoot. We’re just going to see. But I’d like to separate it. I’d like to have a separate thing. Because it is separate.”
On Wednesday, the Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, warned that any attack on Beirut would trigger a “full-scale resumption” of the Middle East war.
Trump says Iran peace negotiations could be reached ‘over the weekend’
Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday that Iran is “pretty close” to signing a peace agreement with the US and that “it could happen over the weekend”.
“Anything can happen when you’re dealing with Iran … That’s a very volatile part of the world, probably the most volatile part of the world. The people are volatile. The leadership, you see what’s going on,” he said.
But he went on to say that negotiations were going well and that Tehran and Washington could reach an agreement within days. He maintained that the heart of the negotiations come down to Iran agreeing to never own, develop or buy a nuclear weapon.
Trump said that given the strength of the US military, “we could go another two, three weeks and just wipe everybody out”.
“I’d rather not do that,” he said. “It’s very easy to do. They’re ready to do it, they want to do it but if we can get something down in writing that can accomplish the same thing without killing everybody, I’d like to do that. Most of my people would like to do that. Some people wouldn’t, but most people would.”
Iran claims to have hit US military ship, but US says ‘Iran is lying’
Iranian state media reported on Wednesday that Iran has targeted a US military ship approaching Iranian waters in the Gulf of Oman.
Within minutes, US Central Command (Centcom) disputed that claim on X.
“Iran is lying,” the post reads. “US military assets at sea continue to fly, sail, and operate safely and unimpeded.”
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi warned on Wednesday that any attack on Beirut would trigger a “full-scale resumption” of the Middle East war, as Israel pressed its campaign against Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
Iran has repeatedly insisted that any deal to end the wider Middle East war – which its ally Hezbollah joined on 2 March – must also halt the fighting in Lebanon.
“The fate of the war between Iran and the Zionists [Israel] and Americans is inseparable from the fate of the battle in Lebanon, and these two fronts have been intertwined since day one,” Iranian news agencies quoted Araghchi as telling Lebanon’s Al Mayadeen TV, reports AFP.
“Any attack on Beirut will have grave consequences and will lead to a full-scale resumption of the war,” he continued, adding Iran’s “armed forces are ready to strike Israel if it attacks Beirut”.
He also insisted that for the war in Lebanon to end, Israeli forces must get out of the country.
“The end of the war in Lebanon also means the end of the occupation. That is, the end of the war must be accompanied by the withdrawal of the Zionist regime’s forces from the areas they have occupied,” he told the pro-Hezbollah Lebanese broadcaster.
His comments came as Israeli and Lebanese diplomats were to hold a second day of direct talks in Washington.
They are part of a fourth round of talks since the fighting in Lebanon erupted when Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader.
Hezbollah is sharply opposed to the direct negotiations.
A meeting between Hamas and Gaza truce mediators in Egypt has been postponed until Sunday, a source close to the movement said, as it demanded Israel halt ongoing attacks in the Palestinian territory.
The meeting had originally been planned for Wednesday in the Mediterranean city of El-Alamein, and was set to include a Hamas delegation headed by chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, along with Palestinian factions such as Islamic Jihad and mediators from Egypt, Turkey and Qatar.
“Hamas and the Palestinian factions are expected to begin consultative meetings in Cairo next Saturday” ahead of meetings between the Palestinian movements and the mediators on Sunday, a source close to the negotiations told AFP.
The source said Hamas had “requested to postpone the talks”, calling them meaningless amid “Israeli intransigence”.
Hamas spokesperson Taher al-Nunu said the movement was in “intense consultations” with the mediators to ensure “real results on the ground”.
“The mediators must compel the occupation to halt the assassinations, bombardment and starvation”, and “expedite the entry of the national committee for the administration of Gaza”, he said, referring to the 15-member board created under the truce deal, which has not yet been allowed to enter the territory it is charged with running.
A transition to the second phase of the ceasefire, which was supposed to involve Hamas’s disarmament and a gradual withdrawal of the Israeli army, has been stalled for months.
Iran foreign minister: Contact with Washington has not been cut off
Abbas Araqchi, the Iranian foreign minister, said in an interview with the Lebanese broadcaster Al Mayadeen on Wednesday that Tehran’s contacts with Washington have not been cut off, Reuters reports.
However, no progress has been made in negotiations, Araqchi said.
Earlier, Araqchi had posted on X that Iran’s armed forces are conducting self-defense strikes on sites the US is permitted to use to attack civilian shipping and violate the ceasefire.
Araqchi added that any hostile act will be met with an immediate, decisive response from Iran.
Here are some images coming out of Lebanon today:
Sirens have sounded in northern Israel over a possible hostile aircraft infiltration in the area of Zar’it, which is located near the Lebanese border, the IDF said.
More details to come.
Here is some video from the earlier Iranian strikes that hit Kuwait international airport today, killing one person and wounding several others:
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