The Iranians are not impressed by the deadlines repeatedly imposed by the United States for Tehran to accept the latest “deal” offered by U.S. President Donald Trump. U.S. Secretary of State Rubio said yesterday that Tehran was supposed to accept the deal by the end of the day, a formulation repeated by President Trump later in the day.
However, there’s still no word of an Iranian response. “This matter is still under review. We will announce the outcome once a conclusion has been reached,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said earlier on May 8. When asked about the U.S. deadline, Baghaei dismissed it as a pressure tactic. “As I mentioned, we are conducting our own assessment. We are doing our work and pay no mind to such deadlines,” he said.
The latest actions by the U.S. in the Sea of Oman yesterday are not helping matters. U.S. Central Command announced that U.S. forces had disabled and seized two tankers heading towards Iranian ports, after seizing one on May 6. In response, Iran’s IRGC announced that it captured an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman that was attempting to “disrupt oil exports and the interests of the Iranian nation.”
