US President Donald Trump
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump said Washington would soon “make a decision” on the matter. Questioning whether further strikes were necessary to ensure Iran’s nuclear programme was permanently dismantled, he said the objective was to ensure “it will never happen again”. Sheikh Tamim stressed “the importance of continuing dialogue and adopting diplomatic means to resolve disputes, sparing the region further escalation, and ensuring freedom of maritime navigation and the security of energy supplies”, the statement said. “The Prime Minister affirmed Iraq’s position calling for respect for the sovereignty of states, non-use of its territories as a launchpad for aggression against neighbouring countries,” the Iraqi Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement on X.
The development comes amid renewed diplomatic efforts to de-escalate tensions in the region. The remarks come as Trump considers whether to authorise fresh military strikes against Iran. US president Donald Trump has claimed that Israel and the wider Middle East would not exist today had he not prevented Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, as Washington weighs the possibility of resuming military operations against Tehran. The US President met his national security team on Wednesday and Thursday to discuss the possible resumption of military operations, according to Fox News. Meanwhile, Trump spoke with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani by telephone on Friday to discuss efforts to ease regional tensions, according to a statement from the Qatari ruler’s media office. In a separate diplomatic development, Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Faleh Al-Zaidi told Trump during a telephone conversation on Thursday that Iraqi territory must not be used to launch attacks against neighbouring countries.