DUBAI
\nSaudi Arabia, Jordan and Iraq reported drone attacks on Monday, two days after the United States abruptly suspended a two-week campaign of air strikes against Iran, as Tehran appeared to put \u200cPresident Donald Trump\u2019s latest strategic U-turn to the test.
\nSaudi Arabia said it shot down drones aimed at petroleum targets, some in its eastern province and others in the capital Riyadh. It said the drones had been launched from Iraq by Iran-backed militia, and it reserved the right to respond.
\nSeparately, Iran\u2019s Houthi allies in Yemen said they had targeted transit sites carrying oil to Saudi Arabia\u2019s main Red Sea oil port of Yanbu, in retaliation for what it said were Saudi drone incursions into Yemeni air space.
\nEarlier, Jordan reported shooting down two drones, and Iraqi \u200bsecurity sources reported a series of drone attacks on camps housing Iranian opposition Kurdish forces in northern Iraq. Officials did not identify the sources of those drones.
\nJordan and northern Iraq were the locations where four U.S. service \u200bmembers were killed during the two-week air campaign, which Trump suspended abruptly over the weekend after his top brass advised him that the strategy had run its course.
\nIran has said it will pause its own attacks for as long as Trump\u2019s self-imposed ceasefire continues. But it also said it was still in control of the contested Strait of Hormuz, and was not seeking to resume peace talks with the United States.<\/p>\n
OIL \u200bPRICES TUMBLE AFTER TRUMP PAUSES AIR STRIKES
\nIn his latest strategic reversal over the weekend, which came with no prior announcement, Trump halted a campaign of 13 successive nights of intensifying bombing that had provoked Tehran to fire on U.S. bases in response.
\nThe \u200bend of the U.S. campaign sent oil prices tumbling. Brent crude, which had briefly ticked above $100 a barrel last week for the first time since May, fell around 6.5% on Monday to just over $90, having touched levels as low as $87.55.
\nTrump\u2019s decision to suspend the campaign reflected advice from his military that the bombing had reached the limits of what it could achieve, according to a U.S. official and several U.S. media reports.
\nThe U.S. official told Reuters that military commanders had advised the president they were running out of targets. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs \u200bof Staff, General Dan Caine, had expressed concern over the depletion of air defence munitions, the official said.<\/p>\n
REQUEST FOR MORE TALKS \u2018NOT IN OUR DNA\u2019, IRAN SPOKESMAN SAYS
\nThe U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, said on Sunday Trump had \u200bpaused the campaign to allow room for negotiations. Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other U.S. officials have described Iran as \u201cbegging for a deal, opens new tab\u201d.
\nBut the spokesperson for Iran\u2019s Foreign Ministry, Esmail Baghaei, said in a televised press conference on Monday that Iran had not \u200casked to resume peace talks with the United States.
\nMessages were still being passed between the sides through mediators and Iran had not forsaken diplomacy, but \u201creports about Iran requesting negotiations with the U.S. are fabricated,\u201d Baghaei said. \u201cThis is not in our DNA.\u201d
\nTehran also indicated it was still in control of the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n
IRAN STATE MEDIA SAY SIX SHIPS TURNED BACK IN STRAIT
\nSeveral Iranian state media outlets cited an \u201cinformed source\u201d as saying that Iran had turned around six \u201coffending ships\u201d on Monday morning that had attempted to cross the strait without its permission. One of the vessels, the source said, had had \u201can accident\u201d.
\n\u201cAs previously announced, the traffic route in the Strait of Hormuz is the route specified by Iran, and other routes are contaminated and have no way out,\u201d the \u200bIranian state media reports quoted the source as saying.
\nTrump launched \u200bhis renewed bombing campaign to punish Iran after Tehran fired on ships using a route through the strait that has been promoted by the United States, which has told vessels to sail close to the coast of Oman.
\nIran says ships may pass only through a channel that runs closer to its own coast, which it controls and where it intends to impose transit fees.
\nThe two weeks of renewed U.S. bombing \u200bkilled scores of people in Iran and destroyed bridges and tunnels across the south as well as military targets. Four U.S. service members were killed by Iran\u2019s return fire \u200bagainst U.S. bases in neighbouring Arab states. Iran also struck civilian infrastructure in Gulf countries in what it said was retaliation for U.S. strikes on civilian targets.
\nLast week Iran\u2019s Houthi allies threatened to extend the disruption to global oil supplies to a second major waterway by announcing a blockade of Saudi Arabia\u2019s oil industry in the Red Sea, sending oil prices even higher.
\nThe halt to the renewed U.S. bombing campaign leaves no clear indication of what leverage Washington can exert to achieve Trump\u2019s aim to break Iran\u2019s grip on the strait.
\nWashington and Tehran reached an agreement in \u200bJune on a framework for talks meant to take place by the end of August to resolve major issues such as Iran\u2019s nuclear programme.
\nBut \u200bthe sides have disputed the meaning of the memorandum\u2019s language about the Strait of Hormuz, with Washington insisting it requires Tehran to allow free travel while Iran says it grants it the authority to supervise transit.
\nIran aims to formalise its control over the strait in an agreement with Oman, which controls \u200bthe opposite shore. A senior Omani delegation was in Tehran over the weekend discussing the strait and Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Baghaei said those talks went well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DUBAI Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Iraq reported drone attacks on Monday, two days after the United States abruptly suspended a two-week campaign of air strikes against Iran, as Tehran appeared to put \u200cPresident Donald Trump\u2019s latest strategic U-turn to the test. Saudi Arabia said it shot down drones aimed at petroleum targets, some in its […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":558742,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-558760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n