STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Judging by his words, President Trump shifted from one reality to another in the course of a day.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
The president said Thursday morning that the U.S. was planning new strikes on Iran. By the afternoon, the president talked of a peace deal already agreed to that could be signed, quote, “soon.” There’s no confirmation that either of the president’s contradictory claims were true. Iran says it has not agreed yet. This is the latest of the president’s many sudden shifts on Iran, which again moved the stock market.
INSKEEP: NPR international correspondent Aya Batrawy’s been trying to sort out what, if anything, is really happening. Aya, good morning.
AYA BATRAWY, BYLINE: Good morning, Steve.
INSKEEP: Or I should say good afternoon in the Middle East, where you are.
BATRAWY: Yes.
INSKEEP: Setting aside the president’s words, what has actually happened in the war this week?
BATRAWY: It’s been a week of whiplash attacks that threatened to unravel the entire ceasefire. And that’s because this is a tenuous ceasefire that’s neither a full peace nor a full-blown war, and it can quickly spiral. You know, after Israel bombed Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, on Sunday, we saw Iran firing missiles at Israel in defense of the Iran-backed Hezbollah. Then Israel bombed Iran, and even Yemen’s Houthis started launching missiles at Israel.
And then Iran downed an American helicopter on Monday as the U.S. was trying to move ships through the Strait of Hormuz. And twice, the U.S. attacked Iranian military sites this week in Iran, including hitting water reservoirs that thousands of people in Iran rely on for drinking water. We also saw the U.S. disabling three ships heading to Iranian ports as part of a naval blockade on Iran. But, Steve, in one of those attacks, three Indian sailors were killed. And throughout all of this, Iran is attacking U.S. bases in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan.
INSKEEP: Wow. Pretty violent week. But the president is now making this statement. He has said multiple times that peace is at hand. What is he saying this time?
BATRAWY: He is basically calling it a done deal now. Here’s what he told reporters at the White House yesterday about Iran.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: And they’ve all approved the deal. Everybody’s approved the deal. Now we’ll get it finished up, and hopefully that’ll be done.
BATRAWY: So, Steve, while he’s saying everyone has approved the deal, he’s leaving out a clear timeline for when that can happen. He says it could happen in the next few days with the two sides signing a deal in Europe. But Iran says it’s not yet done. Iran’s foreign ministry says a deal has not been finalized. And Iranian media say that two weeks ago, there was almost a deal in place, but they say Trump added new demands.
But what we know is Trump does want this war to end. This war is unpopular among Americans. This week, inflation hiked past 4% in the U.S. That’s the highest in several years, with gas prices up. So Trump’s singular focus now is on getting the Strait of Hormuz open again. And any deal that extends the ceasefire so both sides can lift their blockades in the Gulf won’t include nuclear talks. That’ll come later. But for that oil to flow through the strait again, you know, Iran has its demands. They continue to demand an end to the – Israel’s war in Lebanon, which Israel so far isn’t willing to do. They want assurances that they won’t be bombed again, and they want the U.S. to unfreeze billions of their dollars.
INSKEEP: You’re telling us all this, of course, from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. What do some of Iran’s neighbors, like the one you’re in, think of all this?
BATRAWY: Well, Qatar, for example, has been taking on a bigger role in mediating. This week, Qatari officials were in Iran. And yesterday, Trump and Qatar’s emir held a call in which messages from Iran were exchanged, and it’s possible that is why Trump called off more attacks. But the United Arab Emirates, where I am, Steve, has also shifted its tone from being hawkish on Iran to aligning more with other countries in the region about ending this war. So this really leaves Israel as the only country railing against a diplomatic track. We’ve seen how that’s led to heated conversations between Trump and Israel’s prime minister, and both men face elections this year in which this war is playing a big part.
INSKEEP: NPR international correspondent Aya Batrawy in Dubai. Thanks so much.
BATRAWY: Thanks, Steve. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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