War in the Middle East: Trump is optimistic about an agreement with Iran, Tehran much less

The situation between Iran and the United States is still uncertain. The signals sent by the two camps are indeed contradictory. On the one hand Donald Trump is in a rather optimistic phase about the end of the war, but on the other Tehran is much less so.

The United States remains “ready to intervene”

In his latest outing on the subject, the American president declared on Monday that he saw a “positive momentum” in favor of an agreement, after his meeting with the Prime Minister of Qatar, the mediating country. Negotiations to avoid a major resumption of hostilities appear to have recently intensified. But the tenant of the White House, accustomed to contradictory statements, always leaves the prospect of a return to arms hovering.

If a resumption of strikes against Iran is “unlikely”, the United States remains “ready to intervene”, insisted Donald Trump on Truth Social after his meeting with the Prime Minister of Qatar, Mohammed ben Abdelrahmane al-Thani. But at the same time, he said his country, along with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait "and others would prefer the status quo." »

On Sunday, the American president had already stated that a resumption of war with Iran was “very unlikely”. “It depends on whether or not they sign a very strong deal,” he told CNN.

Tehran criticizes “false information”

But the Iranians seem to be on a very different wavelength. “Stop fabricating false information about imaginary discussions,” the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezai, wrote on X. “The war in Iran has already shattered the American government,” he added, referring to the electoral debacle of Donald Trump’s Republican camp last week. The American president and, above all, his vice-president J.D. Vance recognized that it was this conflict, by causing oil prices to soar, which had largely contributed to the Democratic victory during the midterms.

And for the chief Iranian negotiator, Washington is being drawn into Israel's continuation of this war. “Unless Washington abandons its 'Israel first' mentality, America and its allies are heading straight for the Middle Ages,” wrote Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on X.

Our articles on the war in Iran

While awaiting an agreement, on the ground in Iran, strikes, not made public by the American army, are continuing, according to the Iranian authorities. The island of Qeshm, in the Strait of Hormuz, was targeted overnight from Sunday to Monday, the provincial vice-governor said on state television.