Washington– Several US allies in the Middle East have urged the Trump administration to postpone strikes against Iran over the government killing Suppression of demonstratorsAccording to an Arab diplomat familiar with the matter.
Senior officials from Egypt, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have expressed concerns over the past 48 hours that US military intervention will shake the global economy and destabilize an already turbulent region, said the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the sensitive talks.
Oil prices fell on Thursday The markets also seem to be taking note President Donald Trump His tone changed as a sign that he was moving away from attacking Iran, days after issuing scathing threats against Tehran over its brutal crackdown.
However, White House press secretary Carolyn Leavitt emphasized Thursday that “all options are still on the table” for Trump as he deals with Iran.
“The reality is that only President Trump knows what he’s going to do, and a very small team of advisers know what he’s thinking about it,” Levitt said. She added: “He continues to closely monitor the situation on the ground in Iran.”
the Nationwide protests Challenging theocracy in Iran He looked increasingly choked Thursday, a week after authorities closed the country off from the world and escalated a bloody crackdown that activists say has killed at least 2,637 people.
The delicate diplomacy practiced by Arab officials comes during a period of rhetorical attacks by Trump.
Within one day, Trump moved on to provide guarantees to Iranian citizens to do so ‘Help is on the way’ He urged them to seize their country’s institutions, suddenly announcing on Wednesday that he had received information from “very important sources on the other side” that Iran I stopped killing protesters He was not going ahead with executions.
Arab officials also urged senior Iranian officials to quickly end the violent repression of protesters. The diplomat said that they warned that any Iranian response to any American action against the United States or other targets in the region would have major repercussions for Iran.
Asked about reports of allies asking Trump to postpone the strikes at a White House news conference, Levitt did not address the matter directly.
But Trump himself continued on Thursday to send signals that he might back away from a possible US strike on Iran, days after threatening it.
He took to social media to highlight a Fox News headline about the suspension of the death sentence against an Iranian store owner. Irfan Soltani, 26 years old.
Iranian official media denied that Soltani was sentenced to death. Iranian judicial authorities said Soltani is being held in a detention center outside the capital.
State media said he was accused, along with other protesters, of carrying out “propaganda activities against the regime.”
“This is good news. We hope it continues!” Trump said in his post about the rumors that the execution of the store owner had been halted. The White House later confirmed that Iran had halted 800 scheduled executions.
Trump is known to be deliberately vague about his intentions to maintain the element of surprise.
Last June, as Trump was considering whether to follow Israel when it launched strikes on Iran, Levitt read a letter She told reporters that it came “directly from the president” as Trump said he would decide whether to strike Iran “within the next couple of weeks.”
Less than two days later, Trump B-2 bombers were ordered to conduct strikes On vital Iranian nuclear sites.
Trump administration on Thursday as well A new penalty was announced Against Iran.
The sanctions imposed on Thursday include the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, whom the Treasury Department accuses of being among the first officials to call for violence against Iranian protesters.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control also designated 18 people and companies that the United States says were involved in laundering money from Iranian oil sales to foreign markets as part of the shadow banking network of sanctioned Iranian financial institutions, such as Bank Melli and Bank Shahr.
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Associated Press writer Fatima Hussain contributed reporting.