Iran is preparing to adopt a “fully offensive” military stance as diplomatic efforts to resolve its conflict with the United States remain at an impasse. This development arises after the US decided not to prolong a temporary ceasefire.
Negotiations that promised to ease tensions and potentially reopen oil tanker routes through the crucial Strait of Hormuz have come to a standstill. Both Iran and the US continue to eye each other warily, with no imminent resolution following the joint US-Israel military strikes against Iran in late February.
“Iranian entities must brace themselves for escalating conflicts in the Strait of Hormuz and the wider region. Iran is poised to make decisive and difficult choices,” a senior Iranian figure revealed to Reuters.
The official noted that Iran is preparing a “timely and precise” military response should diplomatic channels fail, particularly targeting the US’s naval blockade. Read more about the US naval blockade situation here.
This Monday was anticipated to be a turning point, marking the day Iran and the US would finalize a peace agreement following a memorandum initiated in June. However, hopes dim as no breakthrough has been reported.
Signed on 17 June, the MoU set a 60-day timeframe for the US and Iran to reach a broader deal on Iran’s nuclear program and US sanctions.
The agreement, which declared the “immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts”, quickly unravelled over a dispute about control of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas flowed before the war.
Asked by reporters on Monday if the US was seeking to extend June’s interim agreement, US President Donald Trump said no.
Trump threatens to bomb Oman
Iran said point 5 of the MoU gave it the right to manage the strait, which it shares with Oman, while the US rejected that interpretation. Hostilities resumed as Iran began firing on vessels it said were trying to sail through Hormuz on an unapproved route, and Trump said on 7 July that the pact was “over”.
“Within the short period of a few weeks set by Iran, all the agreement’s provisions must be implemented by the US. This is a precondition for further negotiations with the US,” the Iranian official told Reuters, adding that mediators would share Iran’s deadline with the US and regional countries.
Iran has been negotiating separately with its neighbour across the strait, Oman, to manage Hormuz, seen as a key component of a wider deal, and says it is close to an agreement, although progress has been slow.
Trump threatened to bomb Oman if it “gets in the way” of a US deal with Iran on the Strait of Hormuz and called for Iran to surrender.
“If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the sh-t out of them,” Trump told Fox News journalist Trey Yingst, referring to ongoing talks between Oman and Iran.