US Change of Heart on Strikes Against Iranian Power Plants Marks ‘Strategic Defeat’ – Expert
In this Sunday, July 21, 2019 photo, a speedboat of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard trains a weapon toward the British-flagged oil tanker Stena Impero, which was seized in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday by the Guard, in the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas. Global stock markets were subdued Monday while the price of oil climbed as tensions in the Persian Gulf escalated after Iran’s seizure of a British oil tanker on Friday. 
The US has announced it is delaying power plant strikes after US-Iran talks – but Iran denies any negotiations took place.“Delaying the 48-hour ultimatum [Washington] gave Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz is a strategic defeat,” global energy expert Dr. Mamdouh G. Salameh tells Sputnik, casting doubt on Washington’s narrative regarding the alleged negotiations.The expert outlines three possible explanations:It’s an attempt to find a way to disengage from the war and declare victoryAlternatively, it could be a ploy to dupe Iran until the US Marines are in place to try to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by force, but it is doomed, the pundit warnsThird version: the US apparently wants to save Israel’s Dimona nuclear center from destructionThe US claimed on March 21 it would “obliterate” Iran’s power plants unless the Strait of Hormuz was reopened within 48 hours — a threat Iran says would be met with retaliation against critical infrastructure in Israel and the Gulf.
US-Israel War on IranTrump Orders Five-Day Pause on Iran Power Plant Strikes23 March, 11:21 GMT
Shifting Oil Prices
Brent crude plunged nearly 14% to $96 a barrel shortly after the announcement of the US-Iran talksIt surged again above $100 following the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s denial of holding talks with the USThe US is either trying to trick Iran, or influence rising oil prices, or both, Salameh believes.”The global oil market knows when a lie is being told and Iran won’t fall for it,” he says. The US risks becoming “the biggest loser of rising oil prices by the fact that it still imports an estimated 8 million barrels a day.”
AnalysisDefeat in the Making? What Lies Ahead If US Targets Iran’s Kharg Island23 March, 14:22 GMT
