The war between the US and Israel on one side and Iran on the other crossed the one-month mark on Saturday and entered the second with little sign of respite.
Amid fears of a wider escalation in the region, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis joined the war on Saturday, claiming two rocket attacks on Israel a day after it threatened to join Tehran in fighting the US and Israel.
Trump’s ultimatum to Iran
While Sunday, March 29, was originally supposed to be the deadline for Donald Trump’s ultimatum to Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz, the US president announced on Thursday that he extended the deadline by 10 days to April 6, citing productive negotiations.
That said, there is no concrete evidence to suggest that diplomatic negotiations have yet taken place.
While Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi acknowledged the exchange of messages with the US through intermediaries, he clarified that these exchanges constituted “neither dialogue nor negotiation nor anything like that”.
Meanwhile, Pakistan, which is trying to play the role of mediator, said on Saturday that it was working to “create an enabling environment” for peace talks between the US and Iran.
The strikes continue
With the war now entering its second month, the US and Israel are continuing their attacks against Iran, despite threats from Tehran to retaliate.
The U.S. has also sent more troops to the conflict-torn Middle East, with the USS Tripoli joining the current U.S. strike group with 3,500 additional U.S. sailors and sailors.
Reports suggest the Trump administration is considering deploying an additional 10,000 troops to the region, including at least 5,000 US Marines and thousands of paratroopers from the famed 82nd Airborne.
The Strait of Hormuz is conditionally open
The crucial Strait of Hormuz remains a key point of contention between the warring parties, with the strategic waterway effectively shutting down shipping and driving up energy prices worldwide.
While Trump has previously called on allies for help in keeping the strait open, it appears that call has fallen on deaf ears and the US president has now proceeded to issue ultimatums.
For its part, Iran refused to bow to US pressure and instead opened the strait to friendly nations, including India, Russia, China and Pakistan.
The markets were worried
Since the start of the war, benchmark Brent crude has risen more than 50% and the steady rise in oil prices has not slowed, with Iranian threats still keeping most oil tankers at anchor.
The news also suggests that global oil markets may be underestimating the scale of the crisis – a Bloomberg report citing analysts recently said there was a 40% chance of a worst-case scenario in which protracted conflict would drive oil into “historically high” real-price territory during the second quarter.
American Middle Period
A war against Iran, which is becoming an increasingly unpopular state, could also weigh on Trump’s chances in the US midterm elections, which are scheduled for November.
Demonstrators took to the streets of cities across the United States on Saturday in anti-Trump protests that organizers described as a call to action against a war with Iran, and the long-running conflict is expected to increase pressure on the US president.
