New Delhi:
US President Donald Trump is about to take a critical decision on Iran, with his top aides making plans to resume air strikes if he chooses to break the diplomatic deadlock through military force, The New York Times reported. Trump had just returned from China.
Other nations are trying to broker a compromise that would reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz and allow Trump to claim a political victory ahead of the US election, but he has remained firm.
“I looked at it, and if I don’t like the first sentence I just throw it away,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One after leaving Beijing as he dismissed Iran’s latest peace proposal.
The escalation comes immediately after Trump’s talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. China remains a key strategic partner for Tehran and relies heavily on energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. While Trump confirmed he discussed Iran with President Xi, he said he did not ask Beijing to pressure Tehran.
Behind the scenes, the Pentagon is preparing for all contingencies. The New York Times said military planners are readying for a potential resumption of Operation Epic Fury, potentially under a new operational name, after last month’s ceasefire.
Regional intelligence suggests a tilt towards escalation, with two Middle East officials speaking on the condition of anonymity to the American newspaper that the US and Israeli forces are currently engaged in their largest joint preparations since the ceasefire, positioning for potential strikes as early as next week.
The US and China have agreed that “Iran can’t have nuclear weapons” and that the Strait of Hormuz must be opened, Trump said, according to a report by news agency ANI.
“I have a lot of respect for him. On Iran, he feels strongly that they can’t have a nuclear weapon, said that very strongly, they can’t have a nuclear weapon, and he wants them to open up the strait. But as he said, they close it and you close them. And it’s true, we (the US) control the strait, and they (Iran) have done no business in the last two and a half weeks, which is approximately $500 million a day,” Trump said.
In return, Trump said Xi does not want to see a “fight for independence” in Taiwan because that would be a very strong confrontation. “We had a great stay; it was an amazing period of time. President Xi is an incredible guy. President Xi and I talked a lot about Taiwan. He thinks they cannot have anything to do with what they’re doing. He’s very much against what they’re doing. We talked about Taiwan and we talked about Iran a lot, and I think we have a very good understanding on both.”
Taiwan remained the most important issue for China in the talks. Xi privately warned Trump that differences over the self-governed island, which Beijing claims as its own territory, could bring the US and China into clashes or conflict, Reuters reported.