L'Iran met en garde les autres nations contre "toute action" pouvant étendre la guerre
Under Israeli-American bombs for two weeks, Tehran on Sunday urged other nations of the world to refrain from "any action" that could further extend the war, following an American call to secure the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
The strait, through which normally a fifth of the world's oil production passes, is almost totally blocked by Tehran, in retaliation for attacks by the United States and Israel.
Donald Trump has called on other countries to help secure it and thus mitigate the surge in oil prices, which has serious consequences for the global economy.
The American president specifically mentioned France as a potential partner, as well as China, Japan, the United Kingdom, and South Korea.
During a telephone conversation with his French counterpart Jean-Noël Barrot, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called for restraint.
Other countries must "refrain from any action that could lead to an escalation and expansion of the conflict," he warned, according to a statement from his ministry.
No state has yet announced that it will join Washington, which wants to send the navy to escort oil tankers.
Seoul is "closely examining" this request, a presidential official told AFP, while London is "currently discussing with (its) allies and partners a range of options to ensure the security of maritime transport in the region."
But the British government judged that the priority now was to "de-escalate the conflict".
In retaliation for Israeli-American strikes, Iran has been targeting the Gulf, which houses US economic and military interests, since the beginning of the war on February 28.
Explosions were again heard in Bahrain in the early hours of the morning by two AFP journalists. Manama reported intercepting projectiles, as did Saudi Arabia, which said it had destroyed ten drones in the east and in the Riyadh region.
The attacks on Gulf infrastructure and the blockade of Hormuz have raised the price of a barrel of Brent, the world's benchmark crude, by more than a third, now trading around $100.
Economically, the operation against Tehran is a financial drain for Washington. The first week of the war cost it more than $11 billion, according to the American press.
On the Israeli side, the government has approved a budget of $827 million (€721 million) for "emergency" military purchases, according to local press.
Despite the cost, Donald Trump has again threatened to attack, "for fun", the oil sites on the Iranian island of Kharg in the Gulf, which houses Iran's main black gold export hub, after an attack on its military infrastructure.
In response, Tehran promised to "reduce to ashes" US-linked oil sites in the region.
Iran will also target American companies if its energy infrastructure is bombed, the foreign minister warned.
President Trump has ruled out the possibility of an agreement with the Iranian enemy at this stage.
"Iran wants to make a deal and I don't want to because the terms of the deal are not good enough yet," he said in an interview with the American network NBC.
For him, these terms must "be very solid" to lead to an agreement and include Tehran's commitment to abandon its nuclear ambitions.
The United States and Israel claim to have significantly weakened the Islamic Republic in their operation aimed at destroying Iranian ballistic and nuclear programs, and even overthrowing the government.
But Tehran continues to target Israeli soil and said on Sunday that it had targeted a major police unit and a satellite communications center.
Iran, several of whose leaders marched in the heart of Tehran in defiance on Friday, has so far rejected any discussions to establish a ceasefire.
Life seems to be slowly returning to normal in Tehran, despite the Israeli-American offensive.
Cafes and restaurants, which had been closed for the past few days, have reopened, as have non-essential businesses such as sports shops, AFP journalists observed.
Passengers wait at bus stops, which had been largely deserted since the start of the war, and other Tehran residents queue up outside ATMs to withdraw money.
Online operations at Melli Bank, one of the largest in the country, have been paralyzed for several days, while internet access remains severely restricted.
The war has drawn many countries into the region.
But it is in Iran and Lebanon, which was heavily bombed by Israel after attacks by the pro-Iranian Hezbollah, that the majority of the more than 2,000 deaths were recorded, according to data provided by the authorities of the countries concerned.
If Beirut wants to form a delegation to negotiate a cessation of hostilities with its neighbor, according to an official source to AFP, Israel has stated that no direct talks are planned.
AFP
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