NEW DELHI, Mar 23: As the US President Donald Trump on Monday said his country has had good and productive conversations with Iran and he would order the military to postpone any military strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for five days.
However, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said that it had received messages through “friendly countries” about a request from the United States for talks, but denied any such negotiations had taken place since the start of the war.
The head of the International Energy Agency said the global economy faces a “major, major threat” because of the Iran war. “No country will be immune to the effects of this crisis if it continues to go in this direction,” Fatih Birol told Australia’s National Press Club in Canberra. He said the crisis in West Asia has had a worse combined impact than the two oil shocks of the 1970s and the effect on gas markets of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Israel also gave the clearest signs yet it intends a ground campaign into Lebanon, destroying a key bridge as it vows to crush Hezbollah, the Shia Muslim movement backed by Iran. Mr Trump, after enthusiastically backing Israel in the war the two countries launched on February 28, is under political pressure as fuel prices rise, the result of Iran’s attempts to retaliate in the oil-rich Gulf.
Iran’s main state-aligned media moved quickly to call Mr Trump’s decision to suspend S President Donald Trump’s decision to suspend strikes on the Islamic nation’s power grid as evidence of US hesitation. Iran alluded that it wants to take the path of deterrence rather than concession as talks crept forward.
Trump’s announcement about a five-day window in which the US would hold off on hitting Iranian power plants and related infrastructure was met in Tehran’s media ecosystem with a mix of derision and triumph. Iran media Press TV reported there was no contact for talks with the US, whether direct or indirect.
Press TV reported that a senior security official has said Trump withdrew the talks offer due to Iran’s credible military threats and rising financial pressures in the US and the West. Negotiations are not happening and psychological warfare won’t restore the Strait of Hormuz or stabilize energy markets, the official said, adding Trump’s five-day ultimatum only underscores ongoing plans for attacks, which Iran will respond to with full-scale defense.
Mehr News in a post on social media said recent attacks on energy sites and Tehran’s response had “forced” Washington to reconsider. Mehr said Trump’s threat was “a bluff”, citing the postponement of US strikes as evidence.
(Rohit Kumar)
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