Trump row with Republican senator clouds US drive to sell Iran deal to Gulf allies

Highlights:

• Trump clashes with Republican senator over Iran accord
• Rubio tours Gulf to shore up support for interim deal
• US says oil flows through Hormuz reaching pre-war levels
• Conflicting accounts emerge over elements of the deal

A shouting match over Iran between US President Donald Trump and a senior Republican senator overshadowed efforts by America's top diplomat on Thursday to swing Washington's sceptical Gulf allies behind a preliminary deal with Tehran.

In a closed-door meeting with fellow Republicans on Wednesday, Trump clashed with Senator Bill Cassidy, who said the administration needed to better explain the agreement signed last week that appears to fall short of the goals Trump set out at the start of the war.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio sought to reassure Gulf allies, who are also wary of the accord.

Wrapping up a Gulf tour in Bahrain — home to the US Navy's Fifth Fleet — he told reporters that Gulf allies shared some serious concerns and that they wanted to be kept informed of every step of the peace accord with Tehran, which includes provisions on the Strait of Hormuz.

Oil prices fell to pre-war levels after US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said shipments through the strait were approaching levels seen before the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28, with at least 20 million barrels exiting the strait in the previous 24 hours.

During the conflict, Iran took effective control of the vital chokepoint, disrupting oil flows and rattling global energy markets and the wider economy.

Despite the recovery in traffic, Iran signalled it would continue to assert control. Its Revolutionary Guards on Thursday warned vessels to stick to routes through the strait designated by Tehran, rejecting newly announced shipping routes not coordinated with Iran as unacceptable and dangerous.

The warning came after Oman announced temporary shipping lanes through the strait in coordination with the United Nations' shipping agency. Data from the U.N.'s International Maritime Organization showed that 57 ships have transited the strait since June 23 under the evacuation plan.

If Iran threatens or blocks ships in the strait, "then we're going to have a problem," Rubio said, having earlier told ministers that "no country on Earth has the right to charge for the use of international waterways" and that fees for shipping would never be part of any deal.

Trump faces Republican criticism

Trump faces growing criticism at home over the Iran war.

Several Republicans who attended Wednesday's meeting — held shortly before his administration asked Congress for tens of billions of dollars to pay for the conflict — said Trump's exchange with Cassidy turned into a shouting match as the senator pushed for more clarity on the deal.

"The American people need to know more than we are being told," Cassidy told reporters. "It does not appear, although I don't know for sure, that the course of this is going the way that we were told."

Later, in what appeared to be an effort to please the president, Senate Republican leaders scheduled a late-night vote to block a resolution seeking to end hostilities with Iran. The Senate voted 50 to 47 to stop the war powers measure, which had advanced procedurally in May.

"This vote puts Iran on notice," Trump said on social media after Wednesday's vote, although it does not affect the earlier vote.

Iran war weighs on Trump's Republicans

The war is weighing heavily on Trump ahead of November elections that will determine control of Congress. Just one in four Americans believes the war was worth its costs, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed.

Conflicting accounts have emerged over elements of the framework deal, which has prompted criticism of Trump at home and abroad.

Iran's top negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said on Thursday that the US assertion that Iran would spend its unfrozen assets to buy US agricultural products was false.

Disagreements also persist over financial incentives for Iran, nuclear inspections, control of the Strait of Hormuz and Israel's parallel war in Lebanon.

The deal sets up 60 days of talks to tackle thornier issues, such as Iran's nuclear programme.

Regional scepticism

The deal has provoked scepticism in the Middle East, where many states came under attack from Iran during the war and view it as too generous to Tehran, including a $300 billion fund and the easing of some sanctions.

Washington's Gulf allies fear the reconstruction fund could help Iran rebuild its military. The accord also does not address Tehran's ballistic missile capacity.

Under the agreement, Iran must allow shipping to move freely through the Strait of Hormuz for 60 days, and Tehran has suggested it might impose tolls after that. Washington and its Gulf allies oppose such fees.

Conflict in Lebanon

On Thursday, senior Israeli and Lebanese officials denied there had been any Israeli withdrawal from occupied southern Lebanon, after a US official said Israel had pulled some of its troops back in a good faith gesture.

Israel has been battling Hezbollah in Lebanon since the militant group attacked Israel on March 2 in support of Iran, and Tehran has made a cessation of hostilities there central to its demands in any lasting peace deal with the United States.