Yesterday the Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi, the mediator in talks between the U.S. and Iran, revealed that Iran had offered unprecedented restrictions of its nuclear program to prevent a war.
During a CBS interview he explained:
MINISTER ALBUSAIDI: I am confident, and in my assessment of the way the talks are going, I think there is, really I can see that the peace deal is within our reach.
MARGARET BRENNAN: A peace deal?
MINISTER ALBUSAIDI: Yes, is within our reach, if we just allow diplomacy the space it needs to get there. Because I don’t think any alternative to diplomacy is going to solve this problem.
…
MINISTER ALBUSAIDI: The single most important achievement, I believe, is the agreement that Iran will never, ever have a nuclear material that will create a bomb. This is, I think, a big achievement. This is something that is not in the old deal that was negotiated during President Obama’s time. This is something completely new. It really makes the enrichment argument less relevant, because now we are talking about zero stockpiling. And that is very, very important, because if you cannot stockpile material that is enriched then there is no way you can actually create a bomb, whether you enrich or don’t enrich. And I think this is really something that has been missed a lot by the media, and I want to clarify that from the standpoint of a mediator.MARGARET BRENNAN: So explain that. So the enriched material, things that could be used as nuclear fuel for a bomb, you’re saying Iran would not keep on their own soil?
MINISTER ALBUSAIDI: They would give it up.
To give up stockpiling enriched material of various grades is a concession that Iran has never before made. It would indeed make it impossible for it to create a nuclear bomb.
The U.S. however was not interested in a nuclear deal. Hours after Albusadi’s interview it joined Israel in a “pre-emptive” war on Iran.
jeremy scahill @jeremyscahill – 7:18 UTC · Feb 28, 2026
The term “preemptive” is pure propaganda. The U.S. once again used the veneer of negotiations as a cover to bomb Iran. Tehran had just offered terms that went far beyond the 2015 nuclear deal. What was preempted was diplomacy. The same propaganda tactics used in 2003 Iraq war.
Badral Abusaidi was left to expressed his disappointment:
Badr Albusaidi – بدر البوسعيدي @badralbusaidi – 12:04 UTC · Feb 28, 2026
I am dismayed. Active and serious negotiations have yet again been undermined. Neither the interests of the United States nor the cause of global peace are well served by this. And I pray for the innocents who will suffer. I urge the United States not to get sucked in further. This is not your war.
U.S. President Trump thought differently. In an 8 minutes long speech (vid) he announced several war aims like the destruction of Iran’s missiles, the destruction of its navy and to prevent the country from acquiring nuclear weapons it does not want. He called on the armed forces of Iran to lay down their weapons and for its people to overthrow its government.
For the Islamic Republic the war is thereby not about mere defense – but existential.
As none of Trump’s strategic objectives is likely to be achieved one might already argue that the U.S. has little chance but to lose this war.
So far the exchange of strikes has run along its predictable course.
The U.S. and Israel launched stand-off cruise-missiles against political and military targets in Iran. The compound of the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Tehran, the Ministry of Intelligence, the Ministry of Defense, the Iranian Atomic Energy Agency, the Parchin military complex were hit. Iran’s leadership had moved to safe places and was not affected by the strikes. A missile destroyed the house of the former president Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, who has no role in the current government, and killed three of his guards. Several missiles, says Iran, have hit an elementary school in Minab, south Iran, and killed up to 60 children.
Iran responded by attacking U.S. military installations in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates with hundreds of drones and shorter range missiles. A long range U.S. radar in Qatar was hit as were U.S. Navy fuel depots in Bahrain. Several salvos of tens of medium range missiles were fired against U.S positions in Jordan as well as against Israel.
These first salvos with older, less accurate missiles are intended to draw out U.S. air-defenses and to entice them to expend their limited missiles supplies. There have been reports of several explosions in various places in the Middle East but it is too early to assess if these are the consequences of falling debris or real intended results.
One target hit by the U.S. side was the headquarter of the Hashid Shaabi popular mobilization forces in Iraq. It killed several people. Following that Hashid Shaabi announced to join the fight on Iran’s side. Missiles have hit U.S. positions in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan.
The Houthi in Yemen as well as Hizbullah in Lebanon are expected to also join in the fight.
The exchange of missile strikes is expected to continue over several days. the U.S. will try to eliminate Iranian missile launchers and production facilities. Iran will try to exhaust U.S. missile defenses to then launch its more precise and effective missiles against Israel and major U.S. (naval) targets. Iran already claims to have hit a U.S. supply ship.
But Iran’s main instrument in this war will be its control over the transport of 20% of the world’s oil supplies.
It has just announced the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Michael A. Horowitz @michaelh992 – 15:30 UTC · Feb 28, 2026
#Breaking an official with the EU naval mission Aspides says vessels have been receiving transmission from Iran’s revolutionary guards saying no ship is allowed to pass the strait of Hormuz
Iran can control the Straits by simply firing land-based anti ship missiles.
By Monday fuel prices will have gone through the roof.
Oil prices are the major pressure point Iran has to cause effects within the U.S.
One wonders how long President Trump can sustain the war if the price of gasoline goes up and stays high.