Trump awaits Tehran response
\nRecent escalation by American forces added to suspicions about seriousness of diplomacy,: Araghchi
\n tehran
\nIran\u2019s Revolutionary Guards threatened to target US sites in the Middle East if its tankers come under fire, Iranian media reported, as Washington was left waiting for Tehran\u2019s response to its latest negotiating position.
\n\u201cAny attack on Iranian tankers and commercial vessels will result in a heavy attack on one of the American centres in the region and enemy ships,\u201d the Guards said, a day after US strikes on two Iranian tankers in the Gulf of Oman.
\nUS President Donald Trump had said on Friday he was expecting Iran\u2019s answer to Washington\u2019s latest proposal for a peace deal \u201csupposedly tonight\u201d.
\nBut if Tehran sent Pakistani mediators a response, there was no public sign of it, and Iran\u2019s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reportedly questioned the reliability of US leadership.
\n\u201cThe recent escalation of tensions by American forces in the Persian Gulf and their numerous actions in violating the ceasefire have added to suspicions about the motivation and seriousness of the American side in the path of diplomacy,\u201d he said in a call with his Turkish counterpart, according to Iran\u2019s ISNA news agency.
\nOn Friday, a US fighter jet fired on and disabled two Iranian-flagged tankers that Washington accused of challenging its blockade of Iran\u2019s ports. An Iranian military official told local media the navy had responded with strikes.
\nThat incident followed another flare-up the night before in the Strait of Hormuz, the vital international sea lane that Iran is seeking to control in order to extract tolls and wield economic leverage over the United States and its allies.
\nThe US says it is unacceptable for Tehran to control the key oil route.
\nWashington has sent Iran, via Pakistani mediators, a proposal to extend the truce in the Gulf to allow for talks on a final settlement of the conflict, launched 10 weeks ago with US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
\nA reporter for French broadcaster LCI, Margot Haddad, said Saturday that Trump had told her in a brief interview he still expected to find out Iran\u2019s answer \u201cvery soon\u201d.
\nIran\u2019s foreign ministry spokesman said Friday the proposal was still \u201cunder review\u201d.
\nOil slick
\nTop US diplomat Marco Rubio met Saturday with the leader of Qatar, a key intermediary for Washington in dialogue with Iran, discussing \u201ccontinued close coordination to deter threats and promote stability and security across the Middle East,\u201d the State Department said.
\nQatar\u2019s Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani met the previous day with US Vice President JD Vance to discuss the Pakistani-led efforts to broker a permanent peace.
\nIran has attacked sites in Qatar during the war, pointing to the wealthy emirate\u2019s role as host of a major US air base.
\nMeanwhile, satellite images have shown an apparent oil slick spreading off the coast of Iran\u2019s Kharg Island, a key oil export terminal for the Islamic republic.
\nIt was not immediately clear what caused the apparent spill, which was off the island\u2019s west coast and appeared to cover more than 20 square miles (52 square kilometres), according to global monitor Orbital EOS.
\nA UK-based non-governmental organisation, the Conflict and Environment Observatory, told AFP that by Saturday the slick was \u201cmuch reduced\u201d, and may have been caused by leaking oil infrastructure.
\nKharg Island is at the heart of Iran\u2019s oil export industry, a lynchpin of its battered economy, and lies in the Gulf far north of the narrow Strait of Hormuz.
\nFollowing the start of the war on February 28, Iran largely closed the strait, throwing global markets into turmoil and driving up oil prices.
\nThe US later imposed its own blockade of Iranian ports in response, and Trump this week abandoned a short-lived US naval operation to reopen the strait to commercial shipping.
\nLebanon front
\nA parallel ceasefire on the war\u2019s Lebanon front is also under strain amid daily exchanges of fire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah.
\nAuthorities said at least nine people were killed in Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon on Saturday, while state media reported air raids targeting a highway south of Beirut, outside the militant group\u2019s traditional strongholds.
\nThe fresh attacks were some of the most intense since the start of a three-week-old ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
\nHezbollah said it targeted troops in northern Israel with drones on at least two occasions in response to the continued strikes.
\nIsrael\u2019s military said several explosive drones were launched into Israeli territory, with one army reservist severely wounded and two others moderately injured.
\nThe fresh strikes come as Lebanon and Israel, officially at war since 1948, are to hold direct negotiations in Washington next week, which Hezbollah vehemently opposes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Trump awaits Tehran response Recent escalation by American forces added to suspicions about seriousness of diplomacy,: Araghchi tehran Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guards threatened to target US sites in the Middle East if its tankers come under fire, Iranian media reported, as Washington was left waiting for Tehran\u2019s response to its latest negotiating position. \u201cAny attack on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":545782,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-545761","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n