TCC
Well-known
Foreign ministers from Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan gathered before dawn Thursday in Riyadh for talks aimed at finding a diplomatic off-ramp to the war in Iran.
But there was one big problem, according to Arab officials involved in the discussions: finding a counterpart in Iran to negotiate with. Earlier that week, Israel killed Iran’s national security chi
ef, Ali Larijani, who had been considered a viable partner who could engage with the West.
Egyptian intelligence officials managed to open a channel with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps—the paramilitary group that protects the Iranian regime and is the country’s most powerful security and political entity—and put forward a proposal to halt hostilities for five days to build confidence for a cease-fire, some of the officials said.
Those discussions laid the groundwork for an abrupt reversal more than 7,000 miles away in Florida.
On Saturday night, President Trump, who spent the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago club, gave Iran an ultimatum to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours or the U.S. military would “obliterate” the country’s power plants. Two days later, as word of the discussions in Riyadh made its way to the White House, Trump reversed course, embracing diplomacy with Tehran and putting his threatened strikes on hold.
RELATED
Pakistan Says U.S. Ceasefire Proposal Relayed to Iran
Pakistani officials on Wednesday said they delivered a 15-point ceasefire proposal from the United States to Iran.
ALSO RELATED
China Signals Strong Support For Pakistani Offer To Host US-Iran Peace Talks<!-- --> | ZeroHedge
ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero
. . . . .
The members of Trump's back channel are all on the Board of Peace. Shutting out UK and NATO.
ASSOCIATED
Lebanon bans Hezbollah military activity, orders group to hand over weapons
Beirut, March 2 (SANA) Lebanon’s government on Monday banned Hezbollah from carrying out any military or security activities and ordered the group to hand
sana.sy
Palestine condemns Iranian attacks on Saudi Arabia


