WASHINGTON -- In late September, a plane carrying senior Iranian officials touched down in Abu Dhabi, the gleaming capital of the United Arab Emirates.The Middle East had witnessed a summer of violence, and a meeting with the Iranians was part of a quiet strategy by Emirati leaders to defuse the tension
WASHINGTON — In late September, a plane carrying senior Iranian officials touched down in Abu Dhabi, the gleaming capital of the United Arab Emirates.
The chess match continues, with little evidence that either has a sense of the other’s next move, but with the prospect of an American president newly constrained on Iran policy. The Senate passed a resolution Thursday requiring congressional sign-off for future military actions against Iran — a move President Donald Trump has said he would veto.
Israeli intelligence officials have also determined that the escalating tensions have made Iran only more determined to gain a nuclear weapon, and to take concrete steps toward amassing enough nuclear fuel to build one. Some Persian Gulf nations were hesitant to publicly finger Iran in the attacks, and Tehran denied playing a role, but the United States, Israel and European nations eventually said they had evidence proving Iran’s culpability.
According to analysts and Western intelligence officials, Iran’s attacks carried an unmistakable message: If we cannot export oil, then we will not let you do it either. Iran’s response to the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign was to enact a pressure campaign of its own. “Iran’s policy toward U.S. has been a combination of hardball military policy” mixed with a strategy of “softball through the foreign ministry,” said Ahmad Dastmalchian, an Iranian diplomat who was the country’s ambassador to Lebanon and Jordan.
Some close U.S. allies disagreed, including the British government, which maintains an embassy in Iran and has long held that economic pressure alone would not bring Iran into negotiations over its nuclear program. Several times last year, Britain’s ambassador to Iran, Robert Macaire — a public critic of the American policy — traveled to Washington to meet with U.S. intelligence officials and diplomats to give an assessment of the views of leaders in Iran.
But even as Iran weighed renewed diplomacy, its military provocations persisted. In mid-September, Iran hit Saudi Arabia, a powerful U.S. ally, in a coordinated attack of drones and cruise missiles that set two oil-processing facilities ablaze. Both Iran’s decision to attack Saudi Arabia — and the military capabilities on display during the attack — surprised Western intelligence officials.
The moves were part of a pressure campaign “to deprive the Iranian regime of the money that it needs to destabilize the Middle East” and to “bring Iran to the negotiating table,” Brian H. Hook, the State Department’s special representative for Iran, said at the time.Such rhetoric was losing its impact in the Middle East, where several allies came to question the Trump administration’s commitment to defending them against Iran.
By then, Israel had spent months escalating strikes against Iranian forces and their proxies throughout the Middle East and trying to keep the Trump administration from going wobbly on Iran.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
U.S. and Taliban agree to 7-day reduction in violence, U.S. official saysBREAKING: US and Taliban have agreed to a 7-day reduction in violence in Afghanistan that could pave the way to a withdrawal of US troops, a senior US administration official says.
Read more »
US Senate votes to restrain Trump on IranThe resolution will head to the Democratic-led House of Representatives, which passed a similar text last month.
Read more »
U.S. Senate advances resolution limiting Trump's ability to wage warThe U.S. Senate advanced a bill known as the Iran War Powers Resolution that would limit President Donald Trump's ability to wage war against Iran
Read more »
U.S., Iran use go-between to negotiate fate of Americans held in IranDespite military tensions, US and Iran are using Swiss as go-between to negotiate release of Americans held in Iran. - dandeluce
Read more »
Iran will strike U.S., Israel if they make the slightest mistake: Iran Guards commanderIran will strike the United States and Israel if they make the slightest mistake...
Read more »