The lull in the exchange of attacks between the US and Iran that has been going on since Friday evening is a major topic in some publications in Britain and the US today, BTA reported.
BRITAIN
Donald Trump has halted his plans to escalate the war against Iran after being warned that the US is running out of missile stockpiles, the British newspaper "Telegraph" writes.
For the first time in nearly two weeks, at the beginning of the weekend, the US president canceled strikes against the Islamic Republic and postponed plans to resume large-scale military operations, it points out The Telegraph quoted sources familiar with the discussions as saying that concerns about the depletion of air defence munitions, particularly interceptor missiles needed to protect US bases and regional partners against Iranian ballistic missiles and drones, played a central role in the decision. Trump is believed to be considering several diplomatic and military options to resolve the nearly five-month-old conflict, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expected to visit the White House tomorrow, the Guardian reported. The Israeli prime minister has been a fierce critic of Washington's talks with Iranian leaders and has insisted that the US continue its strikes against Iran, the publication noted. Netanyahu is under significant political pressure at home to demonstrate that his military campaigns against Iran and the Shiite group "Hezbollah" in Lebanon have yielded results ahead of elections scheduled for October.
The Israeli prime minister played a crucial role in persuading Trump to launch joint strikes with Israel against Iran in February and has repeatedly said that US negotiators must take a tough stance on Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs, the Guardian commented. Instead, however, American negotiators appear to be prioritizing the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, the newspaper notes.
USA
Although the Pentagon has publicly dismissed concerns about the depletion of US stocks, department officials have expressed much greater concern in private conversations, with current and former officials saying that the military desperately needs more funds to replenish ammunition, including to deter China and Russia, the "Washington Post" writes.
Despite the pause in the exchange of blows, the conflict in the Middle East has widened amid new turmoil in the Red Sea, the publication notes. Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels have claimed responsibility for Saturday's attacks on Saudi state oil company Aramco's oil facilities in Yanbu and Jazan.
The Houthi attacks could add to pressure on global oil markets, which are already under severe strain amid disruptions caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the American capital's newspaper said.
President Trump often boasts about his unpredictability, claiming that it causes uncertainty among both allies and adversaries, the New York Times reported. In recent weeks, however, he seems to have reached an impasse, and all other topics of his administration have gradually been overshadowed by the war, from which he seems unable to find a way out, the publication comments.
Trump has realized that there are limits and restrictions to his power that he could hardly have imagined when he launched full-scale military operations against Iran on February 28, aimed at quickly ending Iran's nuclear program and overthrowing the country's government, the newspaper notes. According to his aides, he has been deeply disappointed by these limits, and this has made him even more unpredictable.
Last week, for example, the US Department of Energy signed a historic nuclear energy pact with Saudi Arabia, but less than 24 hours later, the president undermined the deal, shocking the Saudis with an announcement that the agreement would not take effect unless the kingdom joined the Abraham Accords and recognized Israel, the "New York Times" points out.
The newspaper quoted Aaron David Miller, a former US diplomat with many years of experience in the Middle East, as saying that with this move, Trump "has angered the Saudis, delighted Benjamin Netanyahu and given Iran a powerful argument why making deals with the United States is a pointless endeavor doomed to be betrayed."