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High-Gear Diplomacy Aims to Avert US, Iran Conflict

Associated Press

   DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - A flurry of diplomatic visits and
   meetings crisscrossing the Persian Gulf have driven urgent efforts in
   recent days to defuse the possibility of all-out war after the U.S.
   killed Iran's top military commander.
   Global leaders and top diplomats are repeating the mantra of
   "de-escalation" and "dialogue," yet none have publicly laid out a path
   to achieving either.
   The United States and Iran have said they do not want war, but fears
   have grown that the crisis could spin out of Tehran's or Washington's
   control. Tensions have careened from one crisis to another since
   President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from Iran's nuclear deal with
   world powers.
   The U.S. drone strike that killed Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem
   Soleimani and a senior Iraqi militia leader in Baghdad on Jan. 3 was
   seen as a major provocation.
   The killing alarmed even Washington's allies in the Gulf, with Saudi
   Arabia dispatching Deputy Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman to
   Washington right after with a message to de-escalate.
   Iran retaliated days later, firing a barrage of missiles at two
   military bases in Iraq where U.S. troops are stationed. No casualties
   were reported in that attack and Iranian commanders say their intention
   was not to kill. Amid the confusion and fears of U.S. retaliation, Iran
   acknowledged it had unintentionally shot down a Ukrainian passenger jet
   after takeoff from the Iranian capital, Tehran, killing all 176 people
   on board.
   In Iran on Sunday, Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani said
   that it was "a very sensitive time for the region."

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