FILE – new UAE pipeline to bypass Hormuz. All the countries in the Arabian Gulf are trying to figure out ways to bypass Hormuz after Iran took control of it and launched attacks against its neighbors
Here is the latest on the war in the Middle East
- The U.S. military said Friday it struck Iranian targets and shot down four Iranian drones that were launched toward the Strait of Hormuz, in the latest clash despite a U.S.-Iran ceasefire.
- An adviser to Iran’s supreme leader told CNN that negotiations are “at a deadlock” and “the ball is in Trump’s court,” urging the U.S. to unfreeze billions in Iranian assets.
- President Trump said he expects the conflict to wrap up soon, either “with a piece of paper” or in “a more difficult way.”
- Fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah is complicating prospects for ending the Iran war, as Tehran insists those hostilities must end before a U.S.-Iran peace deal can be reached. Israel and Lebanon agreed to renew their truce this week, but Iran’s proxy Hezbollah rejected the truce Thursday, and Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon were reported Friday.
- Trump: Iran hasn’t made a deal with U.S. yet
- because “they’re proud” and “it’s a very hard thing for them”
- President Trump told NBC News he believes Iran has not yet agreed to a deal with the United States because “they’re proud” and “it takes a little while.”
- American and Iranian negotiators have engaged in indirect diplomacy aimed at extending their ceasefire, reopening the Strait of Hormuz and launching what could be thorny and complex negotiations over the fate of Iran’s nuclear program. Mr. Trump has expressed optimism about the talks, frequently insisting that Iran wants a deal, but so far, no deal has been struck.
- Asked by NBC News why Iran hasn’t made a deal yet, he argued prior administrations haven’t asked for as much out of the regime. He called the current push “a very hard thing for them.”
- “They’ve had great independence. They’ve dealt with very weak and ineffective leadership on behalf of the United States, and other countries, frankly, … that allowed them to get away with murder,” he told “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker. “I think they can’t believe they’re in the situation where they’ve been virtually decapitated.”
- U.S. shoots down Iranian one-way attack drones launched toward Strait of Hormuz, CENTCOM says
- U.S. Central Command confirmed its forces shot down four Iranian one-way attack drones that were launched toward the Strait of Hormuz, saying they “posed an immediate threat to regional maritime traffic.”
- “U.S. forces subsequently struck Iranian coastal surveillance radar sites in Goruk and on Qeshm Island to defend against further attacks,” CENTCOM said. “American forces remain vigilant and postured to respond to unjustified Iranian aggression in self-defense.”
- A U.S. official previously told CBS News that Iran had launched multiple one-way attack drones, and that no ships had been hit so far.
Trump: Iran war will wrap up either “with a piece of paper” or in “a more difficult way”
President Trump said at an event in Wisconsin that the Iran war is “largely finished,” but suggested the conflict could wrap up in “a more difficult way” than with negotiations.
“One way or the other, it’s finished,” he said, explaining that his goal is to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. “It’s either finished with a piece of paper, or finished a more difficult way, although you could say a much easier way.”
Adviser to Iran’s supreme leader says U.S.-Iran talks are “at a deadlock”
Mohsen Rezaei, a military adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, told CNN the U.S.-Iran negotiations “are at a deadlock and Trump must break this deadlock.”
“The ball is in Trump’s court,” he continued.
Rezaei said Iran wants the U.S. to unseal billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets, calling it “a sign of trust-building” and a “test that America must pass.”
Rezaei warned that if the U.S. blockade on Iran isn’t lifted and the war continues, Iran could “give another dimension to the war” by attacking U.S. bases. He also said Iran could expand the conflict to the Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a crucial shipping passage that connects the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal.
Khamenei took over as Iran’s supreme leader after his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in the opening hours of the U.S.-Iran war. The younger Khamenei was injured, and U.S. intelligence shows he is now holed up in an undisclosed location, only reachable through a web of couriers, U.S. officials told CBS News last month.
Mr. Trump said Thursday he would be “honored” to meet the supreme leader if the U.S. and Iran make a deal.
“This will not happen,” Rezaei said about the prospect of a meeting, explaining that “we are in the first stage of negotiations, and Mr. Trump has brought the negotiations to a standstill.”
Trump: “The situation with Iran seems to be going quite well”
President Trump told reporters Friday that “the situation with Iran seems to be going quite well,” in brief remarks after arriving in Wisconsin for an event.
He did not answer any questions from reporters.
“A lot” of oil is getting through the Strait of Hormuz, Trump says
President Trump said “a lot” of oil is getting through the Strait of Hormuz as he answered questions Friday from reporters on Air Force One.
“I don’t want to say how many, but a lot,” said Mr. Trump, who was traveling to Wisconsin for a roundtable with farmers. “A lot of oil is coming into our country, a lot of oil is coming into the world and people don’t even know about it — and that’s why it’s at $97 a barrel instead of $300 a barrel.”
Mr. Trump, however, avoided the direct question of whether the U.S. Navy was helping guide tankers through the strait.
“When that whole thing is straightened out — it shouldn’t take long, one way or the other it’s going to get done — and when it’s all straightened out, you’re going to have oil prices drop down to maybe even lower than they were [before the war],” he said.
CBS
