It once again faces a week marked by international pressure, diplomatic tensions and improvised movements around the crisis with Iran. Just three days after announcing the call “”, a military operation aimed at guaranteeing the transit of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, the US president would have decided to suspend the plan due to the anger of Saudi Arabia and the difficulties of sustaining the operation without regional support.
According to NBC, the decision came after Riad showed deep discomfort with the US initiative and suspended the ability of the US armed forces to use their bases and airspace. The Saudi reaction would have taken by surprise Washington and ended up leaving an operation that had barely begun to function in a very delicate situation.
Unsuccessful conversation
According to officials quoted by American television, Trump even had a telephone conversation with the Saudi crown prince, Mohamed bin Salmánalthough the contact did not serve to unblock the situation. The plan, which had only managed to escort a small number of merchant vessels through the strait, was finally paralyzed.
The crisis also reflects Washington’s growing diplomatic wear and tear in the Middle East since the beginning of last February 28. Although the White House publicly insists that there is room for de-escalation, andthe episode of Ormuz has exposed the discomfort of some of its main allies in the region.
Trump assured this Wednesday from the Oval Office that the talks with Tehran are “very good” and left the door open to a close agreement. His statements coincide with information published by Axioswhich suggest that Washington would be waiting for an Iranian response in the next 48 hours on several key points of a proposal to definitively end the conflict and open broader negotiations on the Iranian nuclear program.
White House officials cited by the media even claim that both sides have never been so close to an agreement since the start of the war. The current indefinite ceasefire between Iran and the United States seek precisely to buy time for negotiations that have been blocked for weeks.
But while the White House tries to project an image of diplomatic rapprochement with Tehran, another international front threatens to become complicated for Trump: Europe and the Vatican.
Rubio travels to Rome to contain the clash with the Vatican and Meloni
In parallel with the Hormuz crisis, the US secretary of state, , will land this Thursday in Rome in an attempt to redirect the relationship with Pope Leo XIV and with the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, after several marked weeks by Trump’s verbal attacks.
The disagreement with the pontiff intensified especially as a result of the war with Iran. Last April, of destroying “an entire civilization” during the conflict, words that the American president responded by calling the pope “weak” and “terrible at foreign policy.”
The tension increased even more after Trump shared on social networks an image generated with artificial intelligence in which he was represented as Jesus Christ, something that caused outrage among part of the Catholic community.
Although the Vatican later tried to cool down the confrontation, Trump again this week attacked Leo XIV, accusing him of “putting many Catholics in danger” for his position on Iran.
Rubio, Catholic and considered one of the most moderate profiles within the Republican Administration in foreign policy, He will now try to reduce the clash with both the Holy See and the Italian Government. His trip will include an audience with the pontiff and a subsequent meeting with Melons.
A complicated balance
The Italian prime minister, until recently one of Trump’s great European allies, publicly came out in defense of the pope after the American president’s attacks, which caused a new clash between both leaders. Trump went so far as to say that Meloni’s position was “unacceptable” because, according to him, he did not understand the Iranian nuclear threat.
The deterioration of relations has also been aggravated due to the refusal of several European countries to participate in the military operation promoted by Washington to unblock the Strait of Hormuz. Trump even threatened to reduce the US military presence in countries such as Italy, Spain or Germany if he did not receive more support from his European allies.
Meanwhile, the White House is trying to maintain an increasingly complicated balance: negotiating with Iran, maintaining military pressure on Middle East and prevent diplomatic tension from also spreading to Europe and the Vatican.
