WASHINGTON: Trump said the US carried out minor Qeshm strikes on Friday, while mediators from Qatar kept pushing a short bridge deal with Iran.
Iran’s state media reported that two missiles hit Qeshm Island, which sits off the southern coast near the Strait of Hormuz. The agency added that officials had given no details of any damage.
What Trump said about the Qeshm strikes
Trump spoke to reporters in West Palm Beach after landing. “I don’t want to talk about it,” he said when asked about Qeshm.
He then described the action in general terms. “We do minor strikes,” he said, and he claimed the US destroyed a small anti-aircraft device in about 15 minutes, maybe five.
Trump did not clearly say that he meant the reported Qeshm strikes. These are the first US strikes since Tuesday’s midterm elections, where Republicans lost both chambers of Congress.
The US struck the same island on Monday. A U.S. official called that a defensive measure. Officials said earlier strikes near Qeshm, Hengam and Bandar Abbas hit surface-to-air missile systems.
Officials said those attacks did not mark a return to major combat.
Trump’s claims about Iran
Trump also said that Iran wants “to make a deal very badly”. He listed inflation, a lost navy and damaged airports as reasons.
The International Monetary Fund forecast average consumer price growth of 78.6 percent in Iran this year, in a report from Oct. 13.
Trump said that he is talking to Iran. Washington has beaten it, he also said. Meanwhile, he argued that the war lasted seven months but involved only three or four weeks of real fighting.
Iran’s conditions and the Qatari proposal
Tehran wants more than paper commitments before a new round of talks. Ali Bagheri Kani, deputy secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said on state television that Tehran must see practical steps from the Americans.
Tehran lists its conditions. It wants an end to the port blockade and relief from sanctions. It also wants its frozen assets back, payment for war damage and a halt to regional fighting, Israeli operations in Lebanon included.
Meanwhile, Qatar has put forward a two-day bridge deal. On the first day, Washington would end its blockade of Iranian ports and free some frozen money. In return, Iran would let inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency into sites that US and Israeli strikes hit.
A day later, Iran would let ships through the Strait of Hormuz again, under a temporary arrangement with Oman. The interim setup would hold until Washington and Tehran strike a longer deal that involves other Gulf states.
Qatar‘s prime minister told both capitals to seek peace now instead of waiting for a perfect moment.
The nuclear file remains the main obstacle. The watchdog puts Iran’s stock of 60 percent enriched uranium at 440.9 kilograms. Tehran passed a nuclear proposal to Washington via Qatar. Still, a senior Iranian official said negotiations can open only after Washington meets its demands.
For now, the Qeshm strikes add pressure to talks that both sides say they want. Tehran says the bridge deal cannot start until Washington meets its demands.
