Benjamin Netanyahu knows well Donald Trumpand harbors the suspicion that the tenant of the White House plans to announce a ceasefire with Iran as soon as this Saturday, even before reaching a minimum agreement with Tehran, as announced last night by the Canal 12 Israeli.
Distrustful, the Israeli Prime Minister met yesterday in his office with the senior political and military commanders to ask them to expedite the attacks against his “priority objectives” in Iran, to increase the achievements of the operation in the coming hours. Lion’s Roar.
Netanyahu’s maneuver does not expire. If his worst omens come true and the war ends this weekend, he will have managed to deal his last blows to the Islamic Republic. On the other hand, if Trump decides to escalate the conflict, he will have contributed to weakening his great enemy.
The president of the United States keeps all options on the table. It emits disparate, contradictory signals. Generates chaos. On the one hand, he reiterates his interest in reaching a negotiated solution to the war; on the other, it reinforces its military deployment in the Middle East and threatens to unleash “hell” in Iran.
According to Reutersthe Pentagon plans to send thousands of paratroopers to the Gulf to expand the range of possibilities for Trump, who does not rule out putting boots on the ground. The troops would accompany two other contingents of Marines who are on the way. The first unit, traveling aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli, may arrive by the end of the week.
Evidence is mounting that the Trump Administration is preparing a ground operation. The speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Mohammed Baqer Alibafslipped this Wednesday on the social network It was aimed at Saudi Arabia and its crown prince, Mohamed bin Salmanwhich asks Trump to toughen the offensive.
Furthermore, the Republican congresswoman Nancy Macea representative from South Carolina, wrote after attending a closed-door meeting at the Capitol on the same platform that he would not support “troops on the ground in Iran, and even less so after this briefing.”
Message exchange
The Trump Administration forwarded a 15-point peace agreement to its Iranian interlocutors through Pakistan, a mediator embroiled in its own conflict with Afghanistan. Tehran confirmed having received Washington’s proposal, but rejected it, considering it “excessive” and responded with five demands to end the war. The new Iranian leadership did not close the door to dialogue, but tried to set its framework.
To the White House spokesperson, Caroline Leavittdid not sit well with the enemy’s delaying strategy and warned that his position could lead his boss to intensify the offensive: “If Iran does not accept the reality of the current moment, if it does not understand that it has been militarily defeated, and that it will continue to be so, President Trump will ensure that it is hit harder than ever before.”
Leavitt acknowledged, however, that negotiations with Iran were underway and were “productive,” although he avoided confirming the content of the peace plan, which, according to the leaks, contemplates lifting “all” international sanctions that weigh down the Iranian economy in exchange for the regime eliminating its reserves of enriched uranium, limiting its ballistic missile program and stopping financing Hezbollah, Hamas and the rest of related militias.
“There are elements of truth in it, but some of the information I read was not completely faithful to the facts,” the White House press secretary responded when asked about the proposal.
The Iranian Foreign Minister pointed out, however, that exchanging messages “does not mean negotiating.” “The United States raises ideas in its messages that are transmitted to the highest authorities and, if necessary, a position will be announced by them,” he declared. Abbas Araqchi in an interview broadcast this Wednesday on state television.
Hormuz, in the center
Trump announced on Monday through his Truth Social platform that he had been negotiating with the Iranians for a couple of days and that he would avoid attacking their energy infrastructure until this Friday. Five days of relaxation for the markets. The announcement appeased investors and managed to lower oil prices, but it did not neutralize the closure of Hormuz.
Last Thursday, February 26, two days before the start of the operation Epic Furya total of 132 vessels crossed the strait, according to data from Windward Maritime Intelligence. A month later, only six crossed it. Iran perceives the bottleneck as Trump’s Achilles heel, and does not intend to let go.
“If the United States wants to reopen the Strait [de Ormuz]has only two real options: reach an agreement with Iran, or use overwhelming force,” explains the analyst Danny Citrinowicznon-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council. “There is no third option.”
According to their logic, Trump only has two options. The first is to accept a ceasefire without reaching any prior agreement with Iran, or to reach an agreement on the enemy’s terms. a surrender in fact. The second is to escalate hostilities, a deviation that, according to the specialist, would have “serious consequences” for world trade.
Netanyahu has reason to think that Trump opts for the first option. The news that supports this thesis was announced this Wednesday by CNN, and that is that the vice president JD Vancethe member of the Administration most reluctant to launch the operation Epic Furywill travel to Pakistan this Saturday to negotiate an eventual peace agreement with Iranian representatives there.
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