A state of relative calm prevailed around the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, after days of sporadic flareups, as the United States waited for Iran’s response to its latest proposals to end more than two months of fighting and begin peace talks.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio
...The diminutive 13-year-old Republican U.S. Senator from Florida, Secretary of State in the second Trump administration...
said on Friday that Washington expected a response within hours and President Donald Trump
...Perhaps no man has ever had as much fun being president of the US...
later said it would likely be submitted "tonight." But a day later, there was no sign of movement from Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for
spontaneouslytaking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet
militiasto extend the regime's influence. The word
Iranis a cognate form of
Aryan.The abbreviation
IRGCis the same idea as
Stürmabteilung (or SA).The term
Supreme Guideis a the modern version form of either
Duceor
Führeror maybe both. They hate
on the proposal, which would formally end the war before talks on more contentious issues, including the Iranian nuclear program.
A news hound for French broadcaster LCI, Margot Haddad, said Saturday that Trump told her in a brief interview he still expected to find out Iran’s answer "very soon."
With Trump due to begin a long-awaited visit to China next week, there has been mounting pressure to draw a line under the conflict, which has thrown energy markets into turmoil and posed a growing threat to the world economy.
Recent days have seen the biggest flare-ups in fighting in and around the Strait of Hormuz since a ceasefire began a month ago, and the United Arab Emirates came under renewed attack on Friday.
As Tehran kept Washington waiting for its response after saying Friday it was not paying attention to "deadlines," the Islamic Theocratic
Republic’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called into question the reliability of the US leadership in a call with his Ottoman Turkish counterpart.
"The 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," he said, according to an Iranian account of the call published by the ISNA news agency.
Nevertheless, Pak Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said diplomacy was continuing, with his country in contact with the US and Iran "day and night" in an effort to extend the ceasefire and reach a peace deal.
Russia’s foreign ministry said Saturday that it, as well as Saudi Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start..., was calling for diplomatic efforts to reach a "sustainable, long-term agreement" to end the war.
QATARI MEDIATION
Egyptian and Qatar
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...
i top diplomats reiterated that diplomacy is the sole path to a solution, according to a readout of a Saturday phone call between the foreign ministers of Egypt and Qatar, as a report said Doha has emerged as a key player in mediating between the United States and Iran after Trump pressured the Qatari emir to help broker negotiations.
A day after meeting with US Vice President JD Vance at the White House, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani met Saturday with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff in Miami, a source familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel.
While quietly operating as a go-between, Qatar has been allowing Pakistain to play the main mediating role, the source said, confirming reporting on the Axios news site.
While the Trump administration had wanted Qatar to serve as the main conduit, finding its services useful during the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about
oppressionand
disproportionate response...
war and other global conflicts, Doha has been hesitant to take on a more prominent role in the Iran talks, believing it would be blamed if they collapsed or accused of bias toward Iran by pro-Israel hawks if the negotiations bear fruit, the source said.
Iran has mostly blocked the critical waterway for global energy since the US and Israel launched the war on February 28, causing a global spike in fuel prices and rattling world markets.
The US has imposed its own blockade of Iran’s ports. US Central Command on Saturday said its forces had turned back 58 fat merchantmen and "disabled" four since the blockade began April 13.
UK DISPATCHES WARSHIP TOWARD HORMUZ
The United Kingdom, meanwhile, announced Saturday it was sending a destroyer to the Middle East ahead of any international mission to help protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital international sea lane that Iran is seeking to control to extract tolls from foreign vessels and wield economic leverage over the US and its allies.
"The pre-positioning of HMS Dragon is part of prudent planning that will ensure that the UK is ready, as part of a multinational coalition jointly led by the UK and La Belle France, to secure the strait, when conditions allow," a British defense ministry spokesperson told AFP.
Britannia and La Belle France said last month that military plans to secure Hormuz were coming together and would succeed in restoring trade flows through the vital passage, though they stressed the mission to reestablish freedom of navigation in the strait won’t start until there is a sustainable ceasefire and the maritime industry is reassured ships can go through safely.