Israel and Iran exchanged attacks yesterday, as Iran’s military rejected President Donald Trump’s assertion the United States was in negotiations to end the war which has roiled energy and financial markets, saying the US is negotiating with itself.
The rejection of negotiations by the unified command of the Iranian Armed Forces, which is dominated by the hardline elite Revolutionary Guards, came amid reports the US had sent a 15-point plan for discussion to Tehran.
"Has the level of your inner struggle reached the stage of you [Trump] negotiating with yourself?" the top spokesperson for Iran’s joint military command, Ebrahim Zolfaqari, said on Iranian state TV.
"People like us can never get along with people like you.
"As we have always said ... no-one like us will make a deal with you. Not now. Not ever."
Iran’s leadership had previously said it could not negotiate with the US as Washington had attacked the country twice during high-level negotiations in the past two years.
Iran had a "very bad experience with American diplomacy", Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told India Today yesterday.
There was no dialogue or negotiations with Washington, as Iran’s armed forces were focused on defending the country, he added.
Four weeks into the war that has killed thousands, created the worst energy shock in history and sparked global inflation fears, there was no let-up in air strikes from Iran and Israel yesterday.
The Israeli military in a Telegram post said it had launched a wave of strikes targeting infrastructure across Tehran. It later said its air force had struck two naval cruise missile production sites in Tehran.
The semi-official Iranian SNN News Agency said the strikes hit a residential area in the city, with rescuers searching the rubble.
Kuwait and Saudi Arabia said they had repelled fresh drone attacks, without saying where they came from. Drones targeted a fuel tank at Kuwait International Airport, causing a fire but no casualties, Kuwait’s Civil Aviation Authority said.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had launched a new wave of attacks against locations in Israel, including Tel Aviv and Kiryat Shmona, as well as US bases in Kuwait, Jordan and Bahrain, Iranian state media reported.
Trump earlier yesterday told reporters at the White House the US was in "negotiations" with "the right people" in Iran to end the war, adding the Iranians wanted to reach a deal "so badly".
Stocks rose and oil prices fell yesterday on reports the US was seeking a month-long ceasefire and had sent a 15-point plan to Iran for discussion, raising hopes for a resumption of oil exports out of the Persian Gulf.
Other developments
• Israel says it will occupy southern Lebanon up to the Litani River, an area Defence Minister Israel Katz describes as a "security zone", spelling out for the first time Israel’s intent to seize territory amounting to nearly a-tenth of the country. The river meets the Mediterranean about 30km north of Israel’s border.
• The Pentagon is expected to send thousands of soldiers from the US Army's elite 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters yesterday. One of the sources said the Pentagon was set to send between 3000 and 4000 soldiers to the region, where there are already 50,000 US soldiers stationed.
• Ireland will cut excise duty on fuels until the end of May as part of a €250 million euro ($498m) package. Prices at some Irish service stations rising above €2 per litre of unleaded fuel. The cut amounts to 5 euro cents per litre on petrol and 20 euro cents on diesel.
