Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian said on Tuesday that a return to war would benefit “no one”, hours after reported US strikes on an Iranian island in the Strait of Hormuz.
It came as US voters prepared to cast their ballots in midterm elections that threaten President Donald Trump’s grip on power.
Iran’s chief negotiator in talks with the US, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said the Islamic republic was “ready for battle with its finger on the trigger”, while deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi said Iran retained the right to “legitimate self-defence” after the strikes.
But Pezeshkian said his government was still trying to resolve the crisis “through dialogue”, adding that “no one will benefit from this war” if it reignited, and emphasising that the country’s supreme leader had recently granted the government new powers to negotiate issues previously “off-limits”.
The US strikes, reported by The Wall Street Journal, CNN, The New York Times and other outlets, hit Qeshm island in the Hormuz waterway, a key flashpoint of the Middle East war that has upended global markets.
Unnamed US officials cited by the outlets described the attacks as defensive in nature. The Journal said it was just the latest of several undeclared strikes.
US Central Command did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.
Iran wants a settlement
The US and Israel launched their war with Iran with a massive wave of strikes in late February. The conflict has been stalemated for months.
Asked if Israel was involved in the latest reported strikes, an Israeli military spokesperson told AFP, “No”.
The reported Qeshm attack came just hours after Trump signalled a deal with Iran “could happen”, as US voters prepared to cast their ballots in midterms dominated by public dissatisfaction with the war and the inflation it has brought.
“Iran wants a settlement, as soon as possible,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.
Iranian state news agency IRNA reported five explosions in rapid succession on Qeshm island, and that some residents reported seeing two aircraft flying in its skies.
Ghalibaf said the ball was in Washington’s court.
“The countries of the region should know that, just as the Islamic Republic of Iran stands ready for battle with its finger on the trigger, it has also given the American side a powerful and rational response,” he said in a televised speech. “The ball is now in America’s court to prevent war.”
Committed
Qatar, a mediator in protracted indirect negotiations between the US and Iran, said it remained hopeful of an interim deal in the war.
“Both parties remain committed to the negotiation process; as we mentioned, we are facilitating the real-time exchange of proposals between them,” foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari told reporters.
Both sides “are currently reviewing the ideas and proposals we have presented,” he added.
“We remain hopeful that there is still a chance for a deal to take place,” he said, adding Doha was working “towards an interim deal”.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday confirmed indirect negotiations were taking place.
“Given the sensitivity and gravity of the current situation, consultations and deliberations are very intensive,” Araghchi told state media.
Reopen the strait
US Vice President JD Vance said both he and Trump were optimistic about securing an agreement.
“We’ve certainly made some progress. We’ll see if we can make some more,” Vance told reporters on Monday.
A senior Iranian official said that Tehran was ready to reopen Hormuz, a key route for global oil and gas supplies, within two days but only if Washington agreed to its long-standing list of demands.
In September, Iran proposed a seven-day plan to reopen the strait, with demands including ending the war on all fronts, unfreezing Iranian assets, lifting oil sanctions and ending its counter-blockade of Iranian ports.
“The possibility of implementing this plan in two days is another indication of Iran’s good-faith approach,” Tehran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told reporters at a briefing.
Billboard in Tehran
In the leadup to Tuesday’s vote, Trump kept up his threats against Tehran, saying on Sunday that the United States may have to give Iran “the hammer” at some unspecified time.
On Saturday, the US leader said he still had to “take care” of one or two targets including so-called Pickaxe Mountain in central Iran, a suspected nuclear site which Tehran denies is such a facility.
Iranian officials have repeatedly warned of wide-ranging retaliation if the US resumes the war.
Authorities in Tehran installed a huge billboard in the heart of the capital, AFP journalists said on Tuesday.
Over a photo of the US president, it reads: “We will kill Trump”.
