Mediators see progress in efforts to halt Iran war
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CAIRO (AP) -- Mediators have achieved progress in getting the United States and Iran back to negotiations, regional officials said Monday, after both sides paused attacks following a period of rapidly escalating tensions. But scattered attacks by armed groups across the region underscored the lingering tensions.
Saudi Arabia said it had shot down drones fired by Iran-backed militias in Iraq that had targeted its petroleum facilities. Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen meanwhile claimed to have attacked Saudi oil facilities as part of a separate but related conflict. It was unclear if they referred to the same attack.
Neither the U.S. nor Iran reported carrying out any attacks for three days -- a respite after about two weeks of sustained bombardments that had led to increasing fears of a return to all-out war.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran had asked for more discussions, reaching out directly “because we’ve been hitting them very hard.” Iran has said there are no direct talks underway.
“We’re having good talks, so we’ll see what happens,” Trump told reporters Monday on Air Force One. “I think there’s a good chance that something could happen. And if it does, good. if it doesn’t, we go back to doing what we were doing two days ago.”
The two regional officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door talks, said mediators led by Qatar and Pakistan were working to bridge the gap between Washington and Tehran to return to an interim ceasefire deal that had collapsed after exchanges of fire.
In addition to the attack on Saudi Arabia, two drone attacks were reported against a Kurdish Iranian dissident group in Iraq on Monday, and Jordan said it had shot down two drones, without saying where they originated. There were no reports of casualties or damage.
Iran and Ukraine, meanwhile, have been publicly feuding since Ukraine fired on at least one Iranian vessel in the Caspian Sea over the weekend. Iran, which said a sailor had been killed in the attack, is an important ally of Russia in its war against Ukraine and helped Moscow build up its drone expertise.
The U.S. paused attacks after targeting Iranian coastal areas and infrastructure in a nearly two-week escalation sparked by Iran’s firing at ships trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for global oil shipments. Iran had responded to the strikes with missile and drone attacks on countries hosting U.S. troops, killing at least three service members at a base in Jordan and one in Iraq.
Iran halted its attacks following the American pause, Tehran’s army spokesperson told Iranian state TV on Sunday.
US stockpile
The Iran war has drawn down the U.S. stockpile of key weapons systems like missiles and interceptors, analysts say.
Asked if the U.S. munitions stockpile was running low, Trump said both that it was “in very good shape,” and “I’d like to have more, to be honest.” Experts have questioned how long both the U.S. and Iran can afford to keep up attacks.
Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has told Trump that the state of the country’s stockpile could have an impact on military operations in Iran, a U.S. official said.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive conversations, said this message was delivered as part of Caine’s regular duties of providing military advice and options to Trump.
Caine told lawmakers at a hearing last week that “airpower has its limits” in achieving military objectives. The U.S. military has employed airstrikes almost exclusively against Iran.