Summary
- Iran rejects ‘excessive, illogical’ US demands while Trump mentions ‘progress’ with a ‘more reasonable regime’. Trump again threatens to destroy Iran’s energy sites and Kharg Island.
- White House is seriously considering a ground operation to seize Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile, but also wants Tehran to negotiate handing it over willingly.
- Bazan oil refinery in Israel’s northern city of Haifa is on fire after a second apparent Iranian missile strike of the war.
- Iran accuses Israel of more ‘false flags’ – after Kuwait water desalination plant hit.
Iran Again Rejects ‘Excessive’ Demands
Iran has once again stated that it has rejected the latest “US demands” as “excessive and illogical,” according to state Tasnim, also confirming that it did not participate in the weekend Pakistan-hosted summit attended by the foreign ministers of Turkey, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.
“We have never had any direct negotiations with the United States. What has been raised are messages received through intermediaries indicating the US desire to negotiate,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmail Baghaei said in a press conference on Monday. Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar is expected in China on Tuesday for talks with his Chinese counterpart, after Beijing made clear it is ready to back a Pakistan-mediated peace effort.
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has urged President Trump to end the war, saying Washington holds the key here to stopping a worse spiral. “I tell President Trump: Nobody can stop the war in our region in the Gulf but you,” Sisi stated at the opening of the country’s Egypes energy conference. Still, despite Tehran’s latest statement of rejection, Trump put out of a fresh Monday Truth Social Post displaying some optimism toward dealing with a “more reasonable regime” and mentioned “great progress” – but coupled with the usual ‘or else’ type threats. For example, Trump again has threatened to destroy Iran’s energy sites and Kharg Island.
Plan For Uranium Seizure
With more Marines and reportedly Airborne troops en route to the region, among Trump’s ‘options’ is the seizure of Iran’s enriched uranium. A fresh Wall Street Journal report says Monday, “President Trump is weighing a military operation to extract nearly 1,000 pounds of uranium from Iran, according to U.S. officials, a complex and risky mission that would likely put American forces inside the country for days or longer.”
No decision has been made, the report makes clear, and the White House is said to be considering the danger to US troops. On this question, the likelihood for something to ‘go wrong’ – or some kind of mass casualty event for American forces- would be high. This would also open the possibility of forces getting bogged down for at least weeks, months, or longer – and not just ‘days’ of an operation.
“It’s the job of the Pentagon to make preparations in order to give the commander-in-chief maximum optionality. It does not mean the president has made a decision,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has sought to clarify plans.
One key part of the WSJ report gives a window into where future negotiations would focus: “The president has also encouraged his advisers to press Iran to agree to surrender the material as a condition for ending the war, according to a person familiar with Trump’s thinking,” the report says. “Trump has been clear in conversations with political allies that the Iranians can’t keep the material, and he has discussed seizing it by force if Iran won’t give it up at the negotiating table.” But already Tehran sees itself in an existential war for survival, and so isn’t going to be very open to just giving up its enriched stockpiles.
Israeli Oil Refinery on Fire
Huge fires have been observed at the Bazan oil refinery in Israel’s northern city of Haifa, after another apparent Iranian attack, which marks the second such hit on the site since the war started.
Israeli television channels have reported the attack and emergency response at the scene. “Search and rescue forces, both reserve and regular forces, are on their way to a site in northern Israel where reports of impact have been received,” the IDF said in a statement.
Area residents are being asked to stay inside and shelter in place, with Jerusalem Post reporting “The Environmental Protection Ministry told Ma’ariv that a gasoline tank is burning in the refinery complex, producing thick smoke, but with no risk to the population in the area from a hazardous materials incident.”
Smoke rising from Haifa’s Petrochemical complex following a reported Iranian missile strike.
Iran Claims Some Attacks as Israeli False Flags
There’s been another interesting accusation that Israel is conducting false flags to make any potential ceasefire deal much harder. It’s remained an open question whether things will escalate toward an all-out exchange of fire on infrastructure, such as energy sites and water plants.
Iran’s military has newly accused Israel of attacking Kuwait’s desalination plant, according to Al Jazeera. The Iranian statement, featured in the semi-official Tasnim agency, said the “Zionist regime’s brutal attack on Kuwait’s desalination plant, under the pretext of accusing the Islamic Republic of Iran, which took place in the past few hours, is a sign of the vileness and baseness of the Zionist occupiers.”
Indian worker killed in attack on Kuwait plant…
“We declare that American bases and military personnel, their interests in the region, and the military, security, and economic infrastructure and facilities of the Zionist regime will continue to be our powerful targets,” it said. There’s also a lingering threat against American university branch campuses in the region, after over the weekend two Iranian campuses in Tehran came under attack. Iran had earlier said the long-range attacks (which failed) against the UK’s remote Diego Garcia base were also a false flag.