US President Donald Trump is attempting to build trust with Iran to avoid an armed conflict, Washington's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, said in an interview released late on Friday.
On March 7, Mr Trump said he had sent a letter to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, urging a resumption of negotiations about the Iranian nuclear programme. He also warned of potential military action.
“It roughly said: 'I'm a president of peace. That's what I want. There's no reason for us to do this militarily. We should talk,'” Mr Witkoff told right-wing political commentator Tucker Carlson.
Mr Khamenei, in a televised speech on Friday, said: “The Americans should know threats will get them nowhere when confronting Iran.”
Mr Witkoff said Mr Trump has the military upper hand and it would be more natural for the Iranians to push for a diplomatic solution. “Instead, it's him doing that.”
He said the US is continuing discussions with Iran through “back channels, through multiple countries and multiple conduits”.
Mr Trump is “open to an opportunity to clean it all up with Iran, where they come back to the world and be a great nation once again … He wants to build trust with them,” he said.
Ties between Washington and Tehran have been strained further by the resumption of Israeli strikes on Gaza this week and US strikes on the Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen after they threatened to resume attacks on international shipping through the Red Sea.
Mr Witkoff also spoke about the war in Gaza and attempts to revive the ceasefire that he helped to broker between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
He did not give details on what Mr Trump’s plan for Gaza is, but he said the priority was achieving “stability in Gaza” and that this “could mean some people come back. It could mean some people don’t come back.”
If Hamas wants “to stay there till the end of time and they want to rule Gaza” that would be “unacceptable” to the Trump administration, Mr Witkoff said.
Instead, Washington is aiming for the group disarm – if they agree then they could “stay there a little bit, be involved politically”, he said.
But the US “can’t have a terrorist organisation running Gaza, because that won’t be acceptable to Israel”.
CREW
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Sweet%20Tooth
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EVIL%20DEAD%20RISE
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The specs: Aston Martin DB11 V8 vs Ferrari GTC4Lusso T
Price, base: Dh840,000; Dh120,000
Engine: 4.0L V8 twin-turbo; 3.9L V8 turbo
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic; seven-speed automatic
Power: 509hp @ 6,000rpm; 601hp @ 7,500rpm
Torque: 695Nm @ 2,000rpm; 760Nm @ 3,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 9.9L / 100km; 11.6L / 100km
In Full Flight: A Story of Africa and Atonement
John Heminway, Knopff
Naga
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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre, twin-turbocharged V8
Transmission: nine-speed automatic
Power: 630bhp
Torque: 900Nm
Price: Dh810,000
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
More on animal trafficking
More from Neighbourhood Watch
Heavily-sugared soft drinks slip through the tax net
Some popular drinks with high levels of sugar and caffeine have slipped through the fizz drink tax loophole, as they are not carbonated or classed as an energy drink.
Arizona Iced Tea with lemon is one of those beverages, with one 240 millilitre serving offering up 23 grams of sugar - about six teaspoons.
A 680ml can of Arizona Iced Tea costs just Dh6.
Most sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, five teaspoons of sugar in a 500ml bottle.
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SHOW COURTS ORDER OF PLAY
Wimbledon order of play on Tuesday, July 11
All times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Centre Court
Adrian Mannarino v Novak Djokovic (2)
Venus Williams (10) v Jelena Ostapenko (13)
Johanna Konta (6) v Simona Halep (2)
Court 1
Garbine Muguruza (14) v
Svetlana Kuznetsova (7)
Magdalena Rybarikova v Coco Vandeweghe (24)
Brief scoreline:
Al Wahda 2
Al Menhali 27', Tagliabue 79'
Al Nassr 3
Hamdallah 41', Giuliano 45 1', 62'
CONFIRMED%20LINE-UP
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'Gehraiyaan'
Director:Shakun Batra
Stars:Deepika Padukone, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Ananya Panday, Dhairya Karwa
Rating: 4/5
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre, twin-turbo V8
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 582bhp
Torque: 730Nm
Price: Dh649,000
On sale: now
