Iran rules out talks as Trump escalates new war threats

During a parliamentary session, deputy speaker Ali Nikzad said Washington had “nothing new to offer” and that Tehran would not negotiate on the nuclear issue under pressure, Middle East Eye reported. Army spokesperson Brig. Gen. Mohammad Akraminia said Iran’s war strategy had shifted from a “purely defensive stance to an offensive approach” and warned a new war would not be confined to West Asia and could last longer than past conflicts, according to Middle East Eye, Al-Monitor, France 24 and Antiwar News. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei warned the United States and Israel against further strikes, France 24 and Al-Monitor reported. Revolutionary Guards spokesman Hossein Mohebbi said there were no geographic limits in a conflict with America, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran remained prepared for both defense and diplomacy, Al-Monitor reported. Security chief Mohsen Rezaei said he had received a letter from US Vice President JD Vance seeking to revive talks and had yet to respond, Al-Monitor reported. He said Tehran had told Washington that unless its conditions were met, including unfreezing Iranian assets abroad, ending the US naval blockade of Iranian ports, lifting sanctions and ending the war on all fronts, neither would the Strait of Hormuz be reopened nor would there be negotiations. An interim agreement reached in June failed to secure a lasting ceasefire or restore normal shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, and Iran has since proposed that Washington lift its blockade in exchange for reopening the waterway within seven days, Al-Monitor reported.

US President Donald Trump told reporters Washington still had to take care of “one or two sites” and could do so “in 10 minutes,” mentioning a suspected underground nuclear complex at Pickaxe Mountain, Al-Monitor reported. Axios quoted US and Israeli officials saying Trump discussed Iran with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday, with Netanyahu pressing for strikes immediately after the midterm elections while Trump wanted negotiations to play out. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Trump had not made a decision on fresh strikes and that Washington would be open to a diplomatic solution, Middle East Eye reported. Trump later told the Right Side Broadcasting Network the war would end “very soon, one way or the other,” and at an Iowa rally said the US would at some point have to give Iran “the hammer,” Middle East Eye reported. Sen. Chris Murphy called Trump’s plan to restart the war “insane” and warned it would lead to a “devastating escalation,” Middle East Eye reported. The war began on February 28 with joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran, and Tehran retaliated with missile and drone attacks across the region, Al-Monitor reported.

Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty told the IISS Manama Dialogue in Bahrain he was “extremely worried” a new escalation would be more destructive and said military options were not the right solution, Al-Monitor and Asr-e Iran reported. Emirati diplomatic adviser Anwar Gargash said the UAE hoped for a diplomatic breakthrough but was braced for the worst, Middle East Eye reported. Ahmed Aboul Gheit, former Arab League secretary-general, warned a war on Iran could lead to a wide regional confrontation, ISNA and Khabar Online reported. Haaretz called a new war a strategic error that could expand to Arab states of the Persian Gulf and benefit Netanyahu, ISNA and Asr-e Iran reported. Mohamed ElBaradei, former IAEA director general, called any new US military action against Iran “sheer madness,” ISNA reported. A Reuters analysis published by Al-Monitor said four European officials believed the US had amassed enough forces to attack Iran at short notice, possibly as soon as this week, and a fifth European official said “War is coming” while stressing “Nobody is in favour of this war.” Iranian officials told Reuters Tehran had drawn up target lists including undersea communications cables and military bases, and the analysis said strikes on US facilities in Bahrain had exposed the vulnerability of Washington’s regional footprint. Emile Hokayem of the International Institute for Strategic Studies said Tehran’s message to Arab states of the Persian Gulf was that US bases “didn’t protect you, they exposed you.” Senior officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan held talks with Iranian officials in Tehran to prevent a return of military escalation, and Qatari officials met in Tehran and Doha over the weekend, the analysis said. A White House official said “all options” remained available and Iran faced “the easy way or the hard way.”