After the summit meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, U.S. President Donald Trump urged Iran to reach an agreement again, threatening that "there will be nothing left" if the negotiations are rejected. The Middle East war clouds are rising again, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussing the possibility of resuming attacks on Iran.
President Trump said on Truth Social on the 17th (local time), "Iran's clock is ticking. Right now, if you don't move very quickly, there will be nothing left for them. Time is life now." It is believed that he urged the U.S. warship to start negotiations again, or he could conduct high-intensity military operations. President Trump also posted a video of an artificial intelligence (AI) creation in which a U.S. warship strikes Iranian military aircraft, nuclear facilities, and missile bases with a weapon believed to be a laser.
President Trump spoke with Prime Minister Netanyahu for about 30 minutes, mainly talking about the possibility of resuming military attacks on Iran, Israeli media reported. US political media Axios reported that a security team is expected to convene in the White House Situation Room on the 19th to discuss military options against Iran.
Military tensions between the Gulf states are also rising, with drone strikes targeting the Baraka nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates and unmanned drones being shot down in Saudi Arabia's airspace. Iran sent a strong warning message, saying Kuwait and the UAE are cooperating with the U.S.
Given that President Trump resumed his hard-line stance toward Iran as soon as the U.S.-China summit ended, analysts say that President Xi expressed his willingness to support the opening of the Strait of Hormuz. In a fact sheet for the U.S.-China summit posted on its website, the White House stressed that the leaders of the two countries agreed that Iran cannot possess nuclear weapons and urged Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, adding that it is not clear how much China will intervene to resolve the Middle East war.
In the midst of this, following the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, Iran is likely to use the undersea communication cable as a new pressure card, CNN reported. The seabed of the Strait of Hormuz is a major intercontinental submarine cable that connects Europe, Asia, and the Persian Gulf and transmits Internet traffic. If Iran attacks submarine cables through small submarines and underwater drones, it could pose a threat to all areas, including banking systems, military communications, and artificial intelligence (AI) cloud infrastructure, as well as Internet speed degradation.
Washington correspondent Lim Joo-hyung
The war seems to be settling into a prolonged stalemate, and for now, crypto markets appear to be crashing.
Trump continues to act the way he does, but when this turns into a long-term conflict, I seriously question whether the U.S. is actually in a favorable position.
At this point, even the assumption that they are our allies may itself be flawed.
The United States and Israel are simply among the countries that cause trouble.