Are the U.S. out of ammunitions? Speculations are buzzing around the media world as Iran passed another night without U.S. airstrikes on Sunday. Washington paused the war nearing its fifth month. Reports suggest that concerns over dwindling ammunitions were restraining the plans for further escalation.The lull has reignited hopes that negotiations would swing back after nearly two weeks on breach.
Fighting over the Strait of Hormuz derailed diplomatic efforrs between Washington and Tehran as the conflict expands beyond the vital energy corridors targetting US bases, regional shipping and Gulf allies. US operations against Iran were “on a hold”, even as US President Donald Trump threatened a “much higher level” of strikes on Friday.
Another source citing two people familiar in the matter said plans to escalate the campaign were shelved in part because of those shrinking supplies.The report further mentioned Trump also faces the risk of a wider Middle East war, the estrangement of vulnerable Gulf allies and further shocks to the global economy.
Earlier, on Friday Trump said whether he had or not decided to return to an all out operation.
Iran’s army warned on Sunday that the war in West Asia would widen if the United States chose to press ahead with attacks on the Islamic republic, ahead of the visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington.”I believe that if the Americans once again fall for the Zionists’ deception, or move in line with them, and insist on continuing the war, particularly through air strikes, geographically this will expand further,” army spokesman Mohammad Akraminia told state television.
Referring to the recent military flare-up between Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels and Saudi Arabia, he highlighted that the war had already expanded to the Bab al-Mandab Strait at the entrance of the Red Sea.