Iran, US threaten to escalate as technical talks stall
Iran did not participate in technical talks planned for Sunday due to recent attacks on the country and the failure to meet the conditions of the memorandum of understanding with the United States, an Iranian official told state television.
“For example, one of the reasons is to check whether we have access to unfrozen funds, if there is no access, this condition is not met,” said Mehdi Fazaeili of the Department for the Preservation and Publication of the Works of the Supreme Leader of Iran.
Iran launched missiles and drones at US military facilities in Kuwait and Bahrain shortly after US President Donald Trump threatened to destroy the Iranian leadership if they did not adhere to an interim agreement to end their war.
Pakistan, a key mediator, had previously said talks would continue on Tuesday.
The Trump administration said nothing has been canceled and technical talks will continue as planned in the coming days.
Israel said on Sunday it struck Iran-allied Hezbollah militants in Lebanon on Saturday, just a day after Iran agreed to a latest ceasefire deal with Lebanon to calm fighting that it said must end for the broader deal to continue.
The US military said it had struck Iran again, hours after a tanker was hit in the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important energy shipping route that Iran has largely closed during most of the conflict.
“There may come a point when we can no longer be reasonable and will have to complete militarily the job we have so successfully begun,” Trump said on social media.
“If this happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!” he added.
The purpose of the 14-article interim peace agreement was to stop the conflict that started between the USA and Israel on February 28 and to reopen the strait while negotiations continue on issues such as Iran’s nuclear program.
About an hour after Trump’s post, the Kuwaiti military said its air defenses responded to missile and drone attacks, while Bahrain said sirens were sounding here.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement that its navy and air forces launched missile and unmanned aerial vehicle operations targeting US military facilities in Kuwait and Bahrain.
State-run Press TV said the Guard said the US strikes violated the ceasefire and “will result in a complete halt of all diplomatic processes.”
The Revolutionary Guard naval command said US bases in the region “will experience hell in the coming days.”
A US official, who confirmed that Iran targeted US facilities, told Reuters that no US casualties or major damage to its facilities in the Middle East were reported, but the situation was still ongoing.
Hours later, alarms sounded a second time in Bahrain, where officials said an Iranian attack damaged a residential building in Muharraq province and no casualties were reported.
Bahrain called on the United Nations Security Council to hold an emergency session to hold Iran accountable.
The Kuwaiti army announced that two ballistic missiles were destroyed without any damage or loss of life.
Separately, Qatar said one of its citizens had died after being injured by shrapnel from a ship that went missing on Saturday.
The interior ministry said a second person was injured in the incident, which occurred due to “military operations in the area”, without specifying a location or apportioning blame.
US Central Command said its forces carried out the new strikes after a Panamanian-flagged tanker was attacked by an Iranian drone on Saturday.
“Iran was given the chance to comply with the ceasefire agreement but chose not to,” Central Command said in a statement. he said.
It was stated that the US strikes were “a direct response to Iran’s ongoing aggression against commercial shipping” and targeted Iran’s military surveillance, communications, air defense, drone storage and mine-laying facilities.
Iranian state television IRIB said explosions were heard in Sirik in southern Iran, without giving details.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said the responsibility for restoring maritime traffic in the strait to pre-war levels lies solely with Iran and urged others not to interfere with “Iran’s management of the strait.”
with AP
