TEHRAN/DUBAI: Iran’s foreign ministry said Monday it had called for an end to the war across the region and the release of frozen assets abroad in its response to the latest US proposal.
"We did not demand any concessions. The only thing we demanded was Iran’s legitimate rights,” said ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei in a weekly press briefing.
He said Iran’s demands included “an end to the war in the region”, ending the US naval blockade, and the “release of assets belonging to the Iranian people, which have for years been unjustly trapped in foreign banks”.
Washington’s latest proposal had addressed a deal to end the war, reopen the strait and roll back Iran’s nuclear program.
But US President Donald Trump said Sunday he had rejected Iran’s response to the US proposal for ending the war, slamming it as “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!”.
Trump’s rejection of the Iranian response included no details. In an earlier post, he accused Tehran of “playing games” with the United States for nearly 50 years, adding: “They will be laughing no longer!“
Trump is giving diplomacy “every chance we possibly can before going back to hostilities,” the US ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, told ABC earlier.
Threats against European involvement
Baqaei also said Tehran had warned European countries against involvement in “a crisis that would certainly bring them no benefit”, referring to the ongoing tensions in the Gulf.
He said “any interference in the Strait of Hormuz would further complicate the situation”.
Britain and France are leading efforts to create an international coalition to secure the Strait of Hormuz, but only after a peace deal between the US and Iran is secured.
On Friday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged Europeans to help secure the key waterway, after concluding a two-day visit to Rome.
During the briefing Monday, Baqaei denied claims on alleged oil leakage in the Gulf after satellite images appeared to show an oil slick spreading off the coast of Iran's Kharg island.
"The claims made regarding oil slicks and similar matters are entirely fabricated," he said, adding that Tehran was "very concerned about environmental harm" in the Gulf, which he blamed on US presence in the region.
Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been seen or heard publicly since the war began, “issued new and decisive directives for the continuation of operations and the powerful confrontation with the enemies” while meeting with the head of the joint military command, the state broadcaster reported, with no details.
Drone attacks target Gulf Arab nations
The fragile ceasefire was tested when a drone ignited a small fire on a ship off Qatar and the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait reported drones entering their airspace. The UAE said it shot down two drones and blamed Iran. No casualties were reported, and no one immediately claimed responsibility.
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry called the ship attack a “dangerous and unacceptable escalation that threatens the security and safety of maritime trade routes and vital supplies in the region.” The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center gave no details about the ship’s owner or origin.
Kuwait Defense Ministry spokesperson Brig. Gen. Saud Abdulaziz Al Otaibi said forces responded to drones but did not say where they came from.
Iran and armed allied groups such as the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group have used drones to carry out hundreds of strikes since the war began with US and Israeli attacks on Feb. 28.
Iran says it’s on ‘full readiness’ to protect nuclear sites
Trump has reiterated threats to resume full-scale bombing if Iran does not accept an agreement to reopen the strait and roll back its nuclear program. Iran has largely blocked the strategic waterway that’s key to the global flow of oil, natural gas and fertilizer since the war began, rattling world markets.
The US military in turn has blockaded Iranian ports since April 13, saying it has turned back 61 commercial vessels and disabled four. On Friday, it struck two Iranian oil tankers it said were trying to breach the blockade. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard navy says any attack on Iranian oil tankers or commercial vessels would be met with a “heavy assault” on US bases in the region and enemy ships.
In an interview posted late Saturday, an Iranian military spokesperson said forces were on “full readiness” to protect sites where uranium is stored.
The UN nuclear agency says Iran has more than 440 kilograms (970 pounds) of uranium enriched up to 60 percent purity, a short, technical step from weapons grade.
“We considered it possible that they might intend to steal it through infiltration operations or heli-borne operations,” Brig. Gen. Akrami Nia told the IRNA news agency.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an interview with CBS that aired Sunday said the war isn’t over because the enriched uranium needs to be taken out of Iran. “Trump has said to me, ‘I want to go in there,’ and I think it can be done physically,” he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday that Moscow’s proposal to take enriched uranium from Iran to help negotiate a settlement remains on the table.
The majority of Iran’s highly enriched uranium is likely at its Isfahan nuclear complex, the International Atomic Energy Agency director-general told The Associated Press last month. The facility was hit by US-Israeli airstrikes in the 12-day war last year and faced less intense attacks this year.
Iran warns against French-British effort in the strait
Iran’s deputy foreign minister warned against a planned French-British effort that aims to support maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz after hostilities are over.
“The presence of French and British vessels, or those of any other country, for any possible cooperation with illegal US actions in the Strait of Hormuz that violate international law will be met with a decisive and immediate response from the armed forces,” Kazem Gharibabadi said on social media.
French President Emmanuel Macron responded by saying it won’t be a military deployment but an international mission to secure shipping once conditions allow.
Several attacks against ships in the Arabian Gulf have occurred over the past week, and a US effort to “guide” ships through the strait was quickly paused.
South Korea announced initial findings from an investigation that said two unidentified objects struck the South Korean-operated vessel HMM NAMU about one minute apart while it was anchored in the strait last week, causing an explosion and fire. Officials have yet to determine who was responsible.
Netanyahu denies telling Trump the war would cause regime change
In the interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes,” the Israeli prime minister denied New York Times reporting that he made a hard sell for Trump to start the Iran war by saying it would bring about regime change.
“We both agreed, you know, that there was both uncertainty and risk involved,” Netanyahu said. “And I remember that we — I said and he said — that the danger, there’s danger in action, in taking action, but there’s greater danger in not taking action.”
Asked whether he said in that February meeting that Iran would be so weakened it could not choke off the Strait of Hormuz, he said “the problem” of the vital oil shipping corridor “was understood as the fighting went on.”
“I don’t claim the perfect foresight,” he said.
Netanyahu also said he wants to “draw down to zero” the military aid provided by the US, which he said now stands at $3.8 billion per year.
Israel has been a leading recipient of US military aid for decades, but the war in Gaza, with its high number of civilian casualties, has caused that aid to come under greater scrutiny as American public support for Israel declines.
Netanyahu, however, offered an extended timeline, saying he wants to see the aid cut off over the next decade.
(With agencies)
