Iran keeps US waiting for response on peace plan

TEHRAN: Iran questioned the seriousness of American diplomacy on Saturday in the wake of renewed naval clashes in the Gulf, while keeping Washington waiting for a response to its latest negotiating position.

US President Donald Trump had said on Friday that he was expecting Iran’s response to Washington’s latest proposal for a deal to extend a fragile truce and launch peace talks – “supposedly tonight”.

But if Iran did send Pakistani mediators a response, there was no public sign of it, and Tehran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called into question the reliability of the US leadership in a call with his 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.

In an incident on Friday, a US fighter jet fired on and disabled two Iranian-flagged tankers that Washington accused of challenging its naval blockade of Iran’s ports.

READ MORE: US, Iran no closer to ending war as Gulf clashes flare

An Iranian military official told local media the country’s navy had responded “to American terrorism with strikes” and that “the clashes have now ceased”.

The latest incident came after a previous flare-up overnight Thursday to Friday 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.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio reiterated on Friday that it was “unacceptable” for Tehran to control the key oil route.

Washington has sent Iran, via Pakistani mediators, a proposal to extend the truce in the Gulf to allow for talks on a final settlement of the conflict launched 10 weeks ago with US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Friday that the proposal was still “under review”, according to ISNA.

Oil slick

Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, met with US Vice President JD Vance in Washington on Friday and discussed the Pakistani-led efforts to broker a permanent peace.

Iran has attacked sites in Qatar during the war, pointing to the wealthy emirate’s role as the host of a major US air base.

READ MORE: Iran creates agency to collect Hormuz tolls

Meanwhile, satellite images have shown that an oil slick is spreading off the coast of Iran’s Kharg Island, a key oil export terminal for the Islamic republic.

It was not immediately clear what had caused the apparent spill, which was off the island’s west coast and appeared to cover more than 20 square miles (52 square kilometres), according to global monitor Orbital EOS.

A UK-based non-governmental organisation, the Conflict and Environment Observatory, told AFP that by Saturday the slick was “much reduced”, and may have been caused by leaking oil infrastructure.

Kharg Island is at the heart of Iran’s oil export industry, a lynchpin of its battered economy, and lies in the Gulf far north of the narrow Strait of Hormuz.

Following the start of the war on February 28, Iran largely closed the strait, throwing global markets into turmoil and driving up oil prices. The US later imposed its own blockade of Iranian ports in response.

On Sunday, Trump announced a US naval operation designed to reopen the strait to commercial shipping, only to abandon it on Tuesday in favour of a return to negotiations.

Saudi sources told AFP the kingdom had refused permission for the US military to use its bases and airspace for the Hormuz operation, with one saying Riyadh “felt it would just escalate the situation and would not work”.

Lebanon front

A parallel ceasefire in Lebanon is also under strain.

Lebanese state media reported three strikes south of Beirut on Saturday despite a three-week-old ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah

An AFP correspondent saw two stricken cars and emergency workers in attendance along a highway that links Beirut with the country’s south, 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the capital.

The strikes come as Lebanon and Israel, officially at war since 1948, are to hold direct negotiations in Washington next week, which Hezbollah vehemently opposes.