Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Monday that Tehran remains committed to finding a diplomatic solution to its confrontation with the United States, despite the two sides returning to open hostilities after a pause.
Pezeshkian made the remarks during a conversation with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of a regional security gathering in Kyrgyzstan. He accused the US of failing to honour commitments made under previous agreements but said Iran still believed negotiations offered the best path forward.
“Nevertheless, we are still trying to achieve an agreement and understanding,” Pezeshkian said, according to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency. He stressed that continued warfare would serve neither Iran, the wider region nor the international community.
“We believe the solution to the existing issues is dialogue and cooperation and that every capacity must be used to prevent the spread of insecurity and conflict,” he added.
His comments came a day after U.S. forces carried out strikes against two Iranian launchers on Larak Island, located about 660 kilometres (410 miles) east of Iran’s major oil-export hub, Kharg Island. A U.S. official said the targets were hit after members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were seen preparing to launch rockets and deploy naval mines into the Strait of Hormuz.
The escalation was followed by Iranian attacks on U.S. facilities in Jordan, Iranian media reported. Iran’s military also claimed to have targeted the Al Minhad air base in the United Arab Emirates, but the UAE rejected the report as false.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said the strikes in Jordan targeted American facilities involved in launching and supporting the Larak operation. Meanwhile, the Revolutionary Guards claimed that its air-defence systems had brought down a U.S. drone that subsequently crashed into waters in the Gulf.
Iranian state television also reported that a supertanker caught fire and came to a complete stop after apparently striking two naval mines in the southern part of the Strait of Hormuz, citing a statement from the Revolutionary Guards.
Tensions were further inflamed after U.S. President Donald Trump shared an AI-generated video on his Truth Social account that purported to show Kharg Island being destroyed. No evidence emerged that the island had been attacked, while a U.S. official confirmed that American forces had not targeted Kharg during overnight operations.
Trump posted the clip with the caption, “Kharg Island being blown to smithereens!!! President DJT.”
Iranian officials ridiculed the claim. Hamid Bovard, head of the state-owned National Iranian Oil Company, said the situation on Kharg was calm and described Trump’s post as “laughable.”
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