US President Donald Trump says Iran will “pay a price” for “taking too long to negotiate a deal”, as the country claimed responsibility for attacks on US forces in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan in response to US attacks on Iranian ports and islands in the Strait of Hormuz.
In a statement carried by Iranian state media on Wednesday, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it carried out drone strikes on the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain and Ali Al Salem airbase in Kuwait, as well as a long-range missile strike on an airbase in Azraq, Jordan.
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It said it attacked 21 US targets and destroyed four of them, including an F-35 fighter jet hangar at a base in Jordan.
According to their officials, all projectiles in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan were intercepted without any casualties.
The IRGC warned that its forces are fully prepared to respond “brutally and decisively” to any US military action and that Washington would take full responsibility for the consequences of further escalation.
The latest flare-up comes after US forces attacked Qeshm island and ports along the Iranian coast in the Strait of Hormuz after Iran accused Iran of downing an American Apache helicopter on Tuesday.
Following this exchange of attacks, Trump claimed in a social media post that Tehran is blocking a deal to end the war. “They left it too late to negotiate a deal that would have been very good for them,” he wrote. “Now they will have to pay the price.”
A day earlier, the US President had said that both sides were just two or three days away from an agreement.
unaffected by rhetoric
Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi said Iranian officials were not impressed by the rhetoric. “The Iranians are dancing to the same old tune,” he said, adding that Tehran sees its attacks as a show of force.
Asadi said Iran remains deeply suspicious of long-term diplomacy. “The Iranians are saying they are not interested in long talks even though there are clouds of distrust,” he said.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghai confirmed to Al Jazeera on Wednesday that the Qatari delegation was in talks with Iranian officials in Tehran regarding the latest developments in the region and diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the war.
Al Jazeera’s Osama bin Javed, reporting from Doha, said Qatari mediators would push for a peaceful resolution to the conflict.
Gulf countries “see these Iranian attacks as an attack on their territorial integrity, their sovereignty”, Bin Javed said, adding: “They see this as a war into which they have been dragged against their will”.
“However, it is very difficult to find out where we are right now [as] Things could go either way,” Bin Javed said. ”As we have seen in past conflicts, one side will sometimes move to show that it has the upper hand before a deal is signed; In other cases, one party moves ahead with the kinetic operation, causing things to get out of hand.
new theory
Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft in the US, said Iran’s swift response to Washington’s attacks signaled a new principle.
“They believe that they have to respond proportionately, but very harshly and swiftly, against any American attack. Because otherwise, a new normal is established in which the United States can attack Iran with more or less impunity,” he said.
The Iranians were making it clear that any attack on them would be responded to, no matter its size and scope, he said. “But at the end of the day, every time these different types of incidents happen, I get the sense from both sides that their confidence and trust in their ability to reach an agreement is starting to wane,” he said.
The new round of attacks comes a day after the most serious exchange of fire between Iran and Israel since a ceasefire took effect in April. The war began with US and Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28 and has rocked the global economy and sent fuel and food prices soaring.
Progress toward a peace deal remains slow, compounded by Israel’s intensified campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Al Jazeera’s Mohammad Waal, reporting from Tehran, said that despite the latest attacks, neither side wants a return to full-scale war.
“Whether the Americans will withstand this latest retaliation from the Iranians and end their operations or whether there will be new attacks will become clear in the next few hours,” he said. “But the understanding is that both sides would like to get back to talks, even though the Iranians say they do not trust any US initiative regarding peace.”