Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said at a news conference in Tehran on Monday that Iran will no longer abide by the memorandum of understanding signed with the US if Washington fails to uphold its commitments to end the war.
“Each time the other party has failed to meet its obligations, we did not uphold ours. … We will continue to act in this manner,” Baghaei said, according to Al Jazeera.
The foreign ministry spokesperson also said that Iran has carried out its pledges under the memorandum of understanding with the United States.
“No one can accuse the Islamic Republic of Iran of violating its promises,” Esmail Baghaei said.
“In all cases, our obligations and those of the other party are clear, and it can be proven in a documented manner that the other party has violated various parts of this memorandum of understanding under various pretexts.”
Baghaei added that pursuing justice for the assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is “a serious principle” for the Islamic Republic.
“The government has a clear duty. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is part of this process,” he said.
“We will use all legal and international tools and opportunities at the international level to document their [US-Israeli] crimes and to pursue the implementation of justice,” Baghaei added.
He said that Iran is trying to agree a joint mechanism with Oman for the Strait of Hormuz, but US pressure on Muscat has hindered efforts, he said.
Iran entered “every negotiation with meticulousness and seriousness, keeping in mind the interests and concerns of the Iranian nation”, the spokesperson said.
“Once an understanding has been reached, it has acted in good faith and seriousness in fulfilling its commitments,” Baghaei told reporters in Tehran.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has never been the first to violate its commitments.”
Iran expands attacks on Gulf states after US strikes, says Strait of Hormuz closed
US and Iranian forces have exchanged heavy missile and drone assaults, with Tehran targeting US facilities in states across the Gulf on Sunday and saying it had again closed the vital Strait of Hormuz.
The renewed violence casts further doubt on the future of an interim US-Iranian agreement signed last month that aimed to reopen the strait and end the war after a further 60 days of negotiations.
The strikes were the latest in a cycle of attacks and counter-attacks as Iran seeks to assert control over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. However, the barrage marked an escalation in pace and range.
Iran’s strikes extended to US bases in Qatar, a mediator in ceasefire talks that had not come under attack since April. The United Arab Emirates, which had not been targeted since early May, said its air defences had engaged missiles and drones from Iran.
The US military began launching more strikes against Iran at 2am PKT on Monday, Central Command said in a statement on the social media platform X, “to continue degrading their ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial ships freely transiting the Strait of Hormuz.”
US Central Command spokesperson Tim Hawkins told CNN that US aircraft shot down an Iranian cruise missile and a one-way attack drone.
In a brief phone interview with Reuters on Sunday afternoon, US President Donald Trump referred to the weekend’s strikes on Iran. “We’re beating them up,” he said.
Read: US conducts strikes on Iran missile systems around Strait of Hormuz, Axios reports
Iranian media said on Sunday there had been missile attacks and explosions around the port cities of Sirik and Bandar Abbas, home to military facilities on the strait, and nearby Qeshm Island.
In a statement, Iran’s foreign ministry condemned “aggressive” US attacks against Iran over the weekend. The ministry also said talks between Iran and Oman on Saturday in Muscat — focused on arrangements for managing the strait and transit routes — were unable to reach a result because of “overt and covert” US pressure on Oman.
In the past week, Trump has said he considers the ceasefire over, while leaving the door open to more talks.
Iran’s top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, posted on X on Sunday: “The era of one-sided deals is OVER. We told you: keep your word or pay the price. Reality is knocking.”
The war that the US and Israel launched against Iran on February 28 has destabilised the Gulf, where Iran has struck countries hosting US bases. Iran’s effective blockade of the strait has driven energy prices higher and fuelled global inflation.
Higher prices, especially for gasoline, are politically sensitive for Trump ahead of November’s congressional elections.
Iran says it struck US military facilities in Bahrain, radar systems in Oman
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Monday said that it targeted US military facilities in Bahrain and radar systems in neighboring Oman, according to Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB.
Citing an IRGC Navy statement, IRIB reported that missile and drone strikes targeted US military infrastructure in Juffair, Bahrain, as well as long-range air surveillance and maritime surveillance radar systems in Oman.
Shortly after the Iranian announcement, Bahrain’s Interior Ministry said air raid sirens sounded again across the country and urged citizens and residents to remain calm and proceed to the nearest safe place.
The IRGC said the only way to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to maritime traffic was for the US to end its military interference in the strategic waterway and respect the sovereignty of coastal states.
It also warned that continued US military activities in the Strait of Hormuz would lead to “greater incidents” affecting the global oil and gas sector.
Iran’s army claims downing of US drone over Bandar Abbas
Iran’s army claimed Monday that its air defenses shot down a US drone over the southern city of Bandar Abbas, according to the semi-official Mehr News Agency.
Mehr, citing an army statement, said air defense forces in southeastern Iran identified, intercepted, and destroyed “a hostile Lucas-type” aircraft over the skies of Bandar Abbas County near Hajiabad.
The army said the interception occurred while air defense units were responding to “enemy attacks and securing the country’s airspace.”
The reported interception came hours after the US launched a new wave of strikes on military and infrastructure targets across Iran, including sites in the Bushehr, Khuzestan, and Hormozgan provinces, as well as rail infrastructure linking Tehran and Mashhad.
Tehran, in turn, announced missile and drone attacks targeting US military facilities in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar, while accusing Washington of violating a June 17 memorandum of understanding reached through Pakistani mediation.
Flurry of strikes
Iran has sought to establish a permanent system for collecting fees in the strait, which carried one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas shipments before the war, and has warned vessels not to sail without its authorisation.
It said late on Saturday it had closed the waterway after firing a warning shot that struck a vessel travelling on an unauthorised route. On Sunday, it said it had disabled a second vessel.
India said one of its nationals was missing after an attack on the container ship GFS Galaxy off the coast of Oman. Oman said 23 crew members had been rescued. Qatar advised all vessels, including leisure boats, fishing boats and jet skis, to suspend activities.
Iran’s recently created Persian Gulf Strait Authority said on Sunday that passage through the strait was not currently possible due to “recent illegal movements of the United States military forces in the region”. Permits would be issued “as soon as stability and calm are restored,” it said.
The US, which revoked the licence authorising the sale of Iranian crude on Tuesday following earlier attacks on shipping, said its forces were positioned to safeguard freedom of navigation despite what it described as “aggression, harassment, threats, and arbitrary declarations” from Iran.
“Iran does not control the strait. Traffic is flowing,” it said.
The US Navy-led Joint Maritime Information Centre reiterated guidance that, despite a severe security threat, an “expanded” southern route near Oman was available for two-way traffic.
On Saturday, US Central Command said US forces had hit 140 Iranian military targets, and that more than 300 had been struck over three nights this week “to degrade Iran’s ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial vessels freely transiting the strait.”
In response, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had destroyed a command-and-control centre and drone hangars in US ally Jordan, targeted a US radar site and later rocket launcher systems in Kuwait, attacked US aircraft carrier support and refuelling platforms in Oman and destroyed a jet maintenance centre and command facility in Qatar.
‘Keep your word or pay the price,’ Iran says
Qatar, which has previously said it would not act as a mediator so long as it was under attack, said three people, including a child, had been injured by falling shrapnel. It said Iran was “fully legally responsible” for the attack.
The UAE said it detected missile threats outside its borders, while Bahrain said it intercepted several Iranian aerial attacks, Jordan reported missile strikes and Oman reported being targeted with drones. Kuwait’s army later reported damage from strikes and said an attack on an oil drilling platform injured a worker.
Oman said it had summoned Iran’s ambassador to protest over drone attacks in two regions and the US embassy in Oman told its nationals in Duqm and Musandam to shelter in place.
Iran’s army says ‘drone attacks continue against US bases in the region’
The IRGC, carried by the IRNA news agency as per Al Jazeera, said drone attacks were continuing on US bases in the region and that the army launched “destructive drone” assaults on US forces in Kuwait, including defence and missile systems, bunkers and support shelters.
The army went on to condemn what it described as repeated US attacks on military sites, civilian infrastructure and civilians in Iran, calling them a “blatant violation” of the fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter.
The army said Iran’s armed forces would use their full capabilities to defend the country’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, independence, and population against any further aggression.
Iran’s IRGC earlier claimed attacks on Kuwait’s Ali Salem and Ahmad Al-Jaber bases.
Iran accuses US of ‘overt and covert pressure’ on Oman
The Iranian Foreign Ministry condemned the US’s “aggressive” attacks against the country in a statement and also addressed the talks between Iran and Oman on Saturday in Muscat, according to Al Jazeera.
It said the talks focused on arrangements for managing the Strait of Hormuz and that, “unfortunately, the US prevented a result on this issue through overt and covert pressure on Oman”. It also rejected Trump’s claims about the outcome of the talks as “pure falsehoods born of desperation”.
Trump had told US media that Iran had agreed to a deal on Saturday, where “they were giving up everything”, but “then, all of a sudden, two hours after that, they hit a ship with a drone”.
Earlier, sources told Al Jazeera that during Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s meeting with his Omani counterpart, Badr Albusaidi, on Saturday, Muscat had proposed two separately-controlled routes in the Strait of Hormuz, one through Iranian territorial waters and one through Omani waters.Latest News, Breaking News & Top News Stories | The Express TribuneReutersRead More