Iran mulls diplomacy but to continue self-defense as war spreads

Iran has received mediation proposals to restart negotiations with the United States, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Monday, according to state media.

However, Iran would continue to defend itself resolutely, Baghaei said.

“I emphasize once again that the diplomatic apparatus continues to pursue its tasks jointly and in line with the defenders of the homeland in the armed forces. The proposals submitted through mediators have been communicated to us and have been received,” the spokesman said.

The conflict between the U.S. and Iran has flared up again, with the U.S. military concluding its ninth consecutive night of attacks on Iran early Monday. Iran has been responding with attacks on countries hosting U.S. military bases in the region.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said late Sunday that the US is still willing to hold talks with Iran. “We are always open to diplomacy,” Rubio said, but added that it “it has to be a deal that they’re willing to live by.”

“We’ve tried multiple times with Iran and we’ll continue to try. If that door opens, we’ll be happy to see it open,” he said before departing for a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers.

On the war front, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Monday they had struck U.S. military assets across the Middle East after another night of U.S. bombardment of Iranian cities, part of a cycle of attacks ⁠that has all but wrecked an interim cease-fire agreement.

Oil prices briefly jumped above $90 ⁠a barrel after renewed disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, but later pared gains after Iran signaled diplomatic contacts remain active.

U.S. President Donald Trump, under mounting political pressure at home over rising gasoline prices, defended the latest strikes on Iran as retaliation for the deaths of as many as three American service members in recent Iranian attacks.

The conflict has also escalated with attacks ⁠on desalination facilities, raising the prospect of water shortages across parts of the Gulf and opening a new front in a war that is increasingly threatening civilian infrastructure.

Bahrain’s Civil Aviation Authority said on Monday that Iran had targeted the kingdom’s civil air navigation systems, but that operations and air traffic were proceeding normally.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said two oil tankers had “exploded” and were immobilised after attempting to transit the strait via an “unsafe” route.

On Sunday, the IRGC had said two ships were involved in an “accident” in the same area. It was unclear whether the two incidents were related.

Reuters could not immediately verify the incident. The IRGC statement gave no details about the vessels or any casualties.

Separately, a vessel was struck by an unknown projectile off Oman’s coast, overlooking the Strait of Hormuz, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said. The vessel remains adrift, but the crew are safe, it said.

In a statement, U.S. Central Command said its ninth consecutive night of strikes against Iran aimed at “degrading” the country’s ability to attack commercial vessels in the strait’s vital shipping lanes. It gave no further details.

Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency said U.S. missiles had struck several Iranian cities early Monday.

Explosions were reported in Tabriz, Chabahar, Konarak, Bandar Mahshahr and Bandar ⁠Imam Khomeini. ⁠One person was killed and several others wounded southwest of Tabriz, according to state news agency IRNA.

The IRGC said it targeted U.S. aircraft at Jordan’s Aqaba airport with ballistic missiles, as well as military assets at Kuwait’s Al-Adiri camp and Ali Al Salem Air Base, and positions in Syria.

Sirens sounded in Bahrain on Monday morning, while Kuwait’s army said it intercepted hostile drones during an Iranian attack.

Kuwait’s government said a desalination plant had been attacked on Sunday for the second day running, causing a fire, in what it called a direct strike on vital civilian infrastructure.

Desalination facilities supply most drinking water in many Gulf states, serving tens of millions of people in one of the world’s driest regions.

Iran, which accused the United States Saturday of hitting one of its own desalination plants, has repeatedly said it would target such plants in Gulf states in retaliation for U.S. attacks on its energy infrastructure. The U.S. did not confirm that it had struck an Iranian desalination facility.

DAILYSABAH