A senior spokesperson for Iran’s Armed Forces, Abolfazl Shekarchi, has said any new aggression against Iran will be met with a “far more severe” response that extends beyond the region.
In an Iranian news report, Shekarchi said in the event of another round of war, Iran’s attacks would reach beyond the region’s borders and be heavier and more violent than in previous rounds.
The remarks came after U.S military announced that it has launched strikes on targets in southern Iran, as Tehran’s top negotiators gathered in Qatar for talks aimed at reaching a peace deal with Washington.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) said it carried out the “self-defence strikes” to protect US troops from threats posed by Iranian forces.
Navy Captain Tim Hawkins, a CENTCOM Spokesperson, said in a statement late on Monday that targets included “missile launch sites and Iranian boats attempting to emplace mines.” “US Central Command continues to defend our forces while using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire,” Hawkins added.
Iranian media reported explosions in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, a strategic hub near the Strait of Hormuz, a global chokepoint through which a fifth of global oil and gas passes. Iranian state media later said the situation in the strategic port city was under control despite the attacks.
The latest attacks come despite there being a ceasefire officially in place between the US and Iran since April 8.
Earlier on Monday, a high-level Iranian delegation arrived in Doha to discuss roadblocks to a permanent peace deal. The arrival of the delegation, which includes Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araghchi and Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, came as Trump said that peace talks were “proceeding nicely”, even as he insisted that he would not agree to anything less than a substantial deal.
Trump also sought to tie the peace negotiations to a commitment by Muslim-majority countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Pakistan, to sign up to the Abraham Accords to normalise ties with Israel.
In a follow-up post on Monday, Trump said that he expected Iran’s enriched uranium to either be turned over to the US for disposal or “destroyed in place or, at another acceptable location, with the Atomic Energy Commission, or its equivalent, being witness to this process and event.”
It is unclear which Atomic Energy Commission the US president was referring to.One possibility is the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a UN agency that has been involved in monitoring Iran’s nuclear programme, although it does not have any of its own nuclear waste disposal facilities. Several countries do have an Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), including Pakistan, which has been mediating US talks with Iran.
Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said that Washington and Tehran had made progress in their talks, but downplayed the prospect of an impending breakthrough.
“To say that we have reached a conclusion on a large portion of the issues under discussion would be correct. However, to say that this means an agreement is on the verge of being signed is not something anyone can claim.”
Esmaeil Baghaei
Addressing a news conference in Tehran, Baghaei also said the sides were not discussing Iran’s nuclear programme “at this stage”, with their focus being on ending the war.
Adam Clements, a former US diplomat and Pentagon official, told a news agency that he is not “necessarily surprised” by the US acknowledging that its military had struck southern Iran earlier.
“I don’t think that what’s happened in the Straits of Hormuz at Bandar Abbas is inconsequential – certainly something to watch if this leads to other strikes – but I think here’s where we need to separate operational tactical matters from the strategic.”
Adam Clements
Overall, Clements said that he thinks formal diplomatic negotiations between the US and Iran are still moving, and the strikes will not derail the overall process. “It’s not a perfect direction of what some people might want, but it’s a better direction than renewed conflict at this point,” he said.
Iranian Lawmaker Says Tehran Must Negotiate From Position Of Power
Iranian lawmaker Ebrahim Rezaei, a spokesperson for the parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said that diplomats representing Tehran in mediated talks with the US “must negotiate from a position of victorious power.”
Rezaei said in a post on X that the “definitive victor of the war has been and remains the valiant Iranian nation.”
He added that yielding to “the enemy only makes it more savage and exacerbates our problems.” “Please do not whitewash the red lines,” he stressed.
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