- Tehran steps up attacks on Israel, Gulf States
- Israel moves to expand ‘buffer zone’ in Lebanon
Authorities in Tehran, the Iranian capital, have dismissed a US plan to pause the war in the Middle East and instead launched more attacks on Israel and Gulf Arab countries.
Appearing defiant on state TV, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said his government had not engaged in talks with America to end the war, adding: “and we do not plan on any negotiations”. Araghchi maintained that, “Speaking of negotiations now is an admission of defeat”.
Furthermore, reports confirming that Iran “responded negatively” to the U.S. proposal have also emerged with the state media citing an unnamed senior political-security official who spoke of a counterproposal that included a complete halt to “aggression and assassinations” and recognition of Iran’s sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz.
The reports came after an Iranian state TV’s English-language broadcaster quoted an anonymous official as saying Iran rejected the US’s ceasefire proposal and had its own demands for an end to the fighting, the Associated Press (AP) said.
Earlier, two officials from Pakistan, which transmitted the US plan to Iran, described the 15-point proposal as quite broad. This is as the White House Press Secretary insisted the US and Iran were in talks, despite denials from Iranian officials.
“Talks continue,” Karoline Leavitt said on Wednesday.” They are productive, as the President said on Monday, and they continue to be.”
Leavitt warned that if talks with Iran did not pan out, Donald Trump “will ensure they are hit harder than they have ever been hit before”.
Israel Continues ‘Wide-Scale’ Strikes In Iran
The Israeli military says it has carried out a wave of strikes across Iran, including extensively in the central city of Isfahan.
A brief military statement said on Thursday that Israeli forces “completed a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime in several areas across Iran”.
Bahrain Notes ‘Iranian Aggression’
The Kingdom of Bahrain says its civil defences have extinguished a fire in the country’s northern district due to “Iranian aggression” but added that there were no injuries.
The Interior Ministry posted on X in the early hours of Thursday that the fire occurred in the Muharraq governorate, just after a warning siren had been sounded, urging people to head to the nearest safety shelter.
An island country in West Asia, Bahrain is situated near the western shore of the Persian Gulf and Iran has threatened to seize territories in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain in the event of any threatening U.S. ground operation around the areas, according to state broadcaster IRIB, News.Az reports.
According to the report, if the United States launches an invasion, Iran’s armed forces are prepared to take control of the coastal areas of these countries and “reshape the region.”
Meanwhile, as Tehran continued to press its drone and missile attacks around the Gulf and on Israel, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDFs) have not relented in their sustained strikes on Iran. – With The Guardian reports
