As the US army intercepts and redirects vessels in its ongoing naval blockade of Iranian ports, the war’s timeline stays unsure as diplomacy stalls.
While peace talks between the US and Iran have been canceled in Pakistan this week, eyes are actually on Israel and Lebanon as they put together to satisfy for a second spherical of negotiations in Washington later immediately.
Here’s what else to know on Thursday:
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Diplomacy in limbo: A deadline for Iran to ship a peace proposal to the US stays unsettled, with US President Donald Trump asserting Wednesday that there is “no time frame” for the battle. Trump prolonged the ceasefire, after diplomatic efforts with Tehran stalled, and has pushed again on assumptions that political concerns are influencing his strategy. A spokesperson for Trump mentioned he doesn’t view Iran’s assertion that it seized two ships within the Strait of Hormuz as a ceasefire violation.
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US blockade holds: Late Wednesday evening, US Central Command said that it redirected 31 vessels to return to port, or flip round, as a part of the continued US Navy blockade in opposition to Iran. Most vessels have been oil tankers.
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Navy shakeup: And because the maritime standoff continues, US Navy Secretary John Phelan was ousted from his place, six sources told NCS. It was “effective immediately,” per a Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell.
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Strait of Hormuz timeline: A supply mentioned Pentagon officers briefed lawmakers on an intelligence evaluation that discovered it might take as much as six months to totally clear the Strait of Hormuz of mines after the war with Iran ends. A Pentagon spokesman mentioned a six-month closure can be “unacceptable.”
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Israel and Lebanon: Later immediately, Washington will host a second spherical of talks between Israel and Lebanon in hopes of extending a fragile truce. The talks come a day after Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil was killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon, based on Lebanese authorities.
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Rejected once more: For the fifth time this 12 months, the Senate rejected a measure geared toward proscribing Trump’s war powers by requiring congressional approval for any future army motion in Iran. The measure didn’t advance, 46 to 51.
NCS’s Tori B. Powell, Charbel Mallo, Clay Voytek, Elise Hammond and Morgan Rimmer contributed reporting.