Iran says diplomacy continues despite ongoing attacks

Iran said Monday it would not agree to a resumption of international inspections at some of the country's nuclear facilities.

In response to a question on whether Iran would accept theUnited Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) request to access nuclear facilities, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei said the regime would not.

The memorandum of understanding signed with the U.S. calls for negotiations to take place between both parties on the future of Tehran's nuclear program, but it doesn't bind the regime to any specific terms or schedule.

After the first of just two days of direct negotiations between U.S. and Iranian officials since the MoU was signed, Vice President JD Vance said he expected IAEA inspections to resume within days. But two days later, a senior Iranian negotiator said any such arrangements would only be solidified as part of a final agreement with the U.S.

The IAEA regularly carried out inspections and had cameras installed to monitor Iran's enrichment work for years under the previous nuclear deal negotiated by the Obama administration, known as the JCPOA. 

Iran slowly denied that access in the wake of President Trump withdrawing the U.S. from the JCPOA during his first term, while ramping up its uranium enrichment to produce its first-ever near-weapons-grade material.

Explosions of unknown origin were heard in southern Iran near the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, a news agency reported, following an exchange of attacks between Tehran and Washington.

"Media and residents reported having heard on Monday at midday explosions near Bandar Abbas and the island of Qeshm," the semi-official Mehr news agency said, adding that the blasts "appear to be coming from the West Coast of Bandar Abbas."  

Iran said Monday it was continuing talks with mediators from Qatar, Pakistan and Oman in an effort to prevent any further escalation with the United States.

"The role of the mediators is to continue their efforts to prevent an escalation of tensions," said Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei, stressing that Tehran would pursue diplomacy along with military measures.

"Wherever necessary, we will use military means to defend our interests, and wherever circumstances require, wherever the country's interests dictate, we will use the tool of diplomacy," the spokesperson said.

Iran's foreign ministry said Sunday the latest wave of U.S. attacks on its territory had rendered recent diplomatic efforts "futile."

Iran has blamed the U.S. for escalation of attacks over the last week over control of the Strait of Hormuz.

"Everything that has happened over the past several weeks, especially in the past few days, is the direct responsibility of the United States, because they cheated from the very first day," Esmail Baqaei, a spokesperson for Iran's foreign ministry, said Monday.

He claimed the U.S. did not allow Iran to carry out the work which would make the Strait of Hormuz safe to transit, as set out in the fifth clause of the memorandum of understanding, and instead created other routes in the waterway that Tehran claims are not safe.

The U.S. resumed major strikes on Iran on June 7, calling them retaliation for Iranian attacks on oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, which were hit in the south of the strategic waterway, near the Omani coast.

The United Nations Secretary-General warned of "catastrophic consequences" for the region if fighting resumes.

"A return to full-scale hostilities would have catastrophic consequences - for the peoples of the region, for international peace & security & for the global economy," António Guterres said in a statement.

The UN chief expressed his concern for the recent escalation and said the attacks "must all stop."

The price of Brent crude, the international standard, gained 4.7% to $79.59 per barrel, while U.S. benchmark crude oil added 4.8% to $74.85 per barrel.

Prices for both types of crude oil recently had slipped back to around the levels they were at before the war with Iran began, after the two sides set an interim agreement on ending the conflict and ships resumed transporting oil through the Strait of Hormuz.

However, the United States launched several waves of strikes on Iran into Monday morning over an Iranian attack on a container ship in the strait that set it ablaze and left a crew member missing over the weekend. Iran retaliated by targeting countries across the Middle East.

Iran has condemned the latest wave of U.S. attacks on its territory, saying they had "rendered futile" all the diplomatic efforts of the last few months.

The United States has also "caused the return of insecurity in the Strait of Hormuz and disruption of international commercial shipping by openly interfering in the process of Iran implementing the necessary arrangements in the Strait of Hormuz," a foreign ministry statement said Sunday.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Monday claimed strikes against Bahrain and Oman, saying they destroyed radar systems in Oman and targeted U.S. military facilities on the southern edge of Manama.

Additionally, the Jordanian military said on Monday it had shot down four Iranian missiles over the country, which Tehran said were intended as retaliation for U.S. strikes.

"At dawn today, air defence systems intercepted and shot down four missiles that had entered Jordanian airspace from Iranian territory," an official source from the Jordanian General Staff said, adding that there were no reports of injuries or damage to property.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said it struck dozens of Iranian targets on Sunday.

"Forces struck Iranian military air-defense systems, coastal radar sites, missile and drone capabilities, and small boats using U.S. fighter aircraft, naval vessels, one-way attack aerial drones, and one-way attack sea drones for the first time," CENTCOM said in a statement.

It added that Iran "does not control" the Strait of Hormuz, in response to earlier claims by Tehran that the vital waterway was effectively closed.