Trump considers ‘winding down’ Iran war
President Donald Trump said he was considering “ending” the US military operation against Iran as Iran and Israel exchanged attacks and Iranian media said the nuclear enrichment facility at Natanz was attacked.
Trump said in a social media post that the United States was close to meeting its goals but insisted other countries must take the lead on securing the vital shipping lane of the Strait of Hormuz, whose near closure threatens a global energy shock.
Trump and his administration have sent mixed messages about U.S. objectives throughout the war, now in its fourth week, and traditional U.S. allies have struggled to respond.
While Trump has suggested the war could end as the Iranian threat is eliminated, at the same time U.S. Marines and heavy landing craft are heading to the region on a mission whose objectives are not immediately clear.
“We are getting very close to achieving our goals as we consider halting our major military efforts in the Middle East regarding the Iranian Terrorist Regime,” Trump said in a statement to Truth Social.
“The Strait of Hormuz will need to be protected and controlled by other countries that use it when necessary; the United States is not doing this!” he added.
“We would assist these countries in their Hormuz efforts if desired, but once the Iranian threat is eliminated this should not be necessary.”
With more than 2,000 people killed in Iran since the US and Israel attacked on February 28, American voters are increasingly concerned about signs that the war could expand further. Vital energy infrastructure in Iran and neighboring Gulf states was attacked and oil prices increased by 50 percent.
Energy price shocks are also fueling inflation, hitting consumers and businesses hard; This is a huge political liability for Trump, who is trying to justify the war to the US public ahead of November elections in which he could lose control of Congress.
Trump also accused NATO allies, who were not consulted about the war, of cowardice for their reluctance to help open the strait.
Iran’s gas supply to Iraq has reportedly resumed after the flow was interrupted due to Israel’s attack on Iran’s main gas field, South Pars, on Wednesday.
As the clashes continued, Iranian media reported that US-Israeli forces attacked the Shahid Ahmadi-Roshan Natanz enrichment complex on Saturday morning. Technical experts determined that no radioactive leak had occurred and that nearby residents were not at risk. While Israel said that it was unaware of such an attack, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that the investigation was ongoing.
Russia called this “a clear violation of international law”.
Israel also attacked Beirut, saying it was targeting the Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah militia; This was the deadliest spillover of the war against Iran since Hezbollah opened fire on Israel in support of Tehran on March 2.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel was “determined to continue the offensive against the Iranian terrorist regime, beheading its commanders and hindering its strategic capabilities until any security threat to Israel and U.S. interests in the region is eliminated.”
Air raid sirens in Israel warned of incoming missiles from the early morning hours, and millions of people were sent to shelters due to interfering explosions from above. There were no immediate reports of casualties. According to the Wall Street Journal, Iran fired two ballistic missiles at the US-British military airport on the Diego Garcia island, 3800 km away from the Indian Ocean, but failed to hit the base.
Natural gas prices in Europe rose as much as 35 percent this week as Iran and Israel hit some of the region’s most important gas infrastructures.
The Strait of Hormuz, the transit point for nearly one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies, has been effectively closed to most shipping. Leading US allies from Europe, as well as Japan and Canada, have pledged to join “appropriate efforts” to ensure safe passage through the strait, but Germany and France have declared that the conflict must first stop.
