Iran warns of retaliation as Trump weighs renewed strikes
Tehran says the United States may resume attacks, while Qatar seeks to revive negotiations and Strait of Hormuz shipping declines.
Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters says it has received information that the United States is preparing to resume strikes, prompting a warning that Tehran would retaliate against US bases and interests in the Middle East. The claim has not been independently verified.
Iranian officials also warned regional states that allowing their territory or facilities to support US attacks could make them “complicit” and expose them to an Iranian response.
US President Donald Trump told Fox News he was in a “deciding mode” over Iran, with military action, economic pressure or a deal among the options under consideration. He said he would be open to meeting Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian during the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is travelling to New York with a stopover in Qatar. Qatar says it is exchanging proposals aimed at restarting negotiations and has received assurances from US officials that Washington wants an agreement. No deal has been announced.
Tehran says renewed talks would require an end to the war and US attacks, the release of frozen Iranian funds and the lifting of a US naval blockade on Iranian ports. Iran’s parliament speaker has said the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until those conditions are met. Reported traffic fell to 12 commodity vessels over the weekend, from 35 the previous weekend, although the cause and extent of the disruption have not been independently established.
