Iran, US trade strikes as negotiations falter

DUBAI/TEHRAN — Iran and the United States traded strikes on Monday and each accused the other of acting aggressively, as diplomatic efforts to end three months of war drag on.

Weeks of indirect talks marked by stark threats and several waves of airstrikes have so far failed to agree on an end to the war or the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the key shipping channel for Gulf oil and gas.

The US military said it had over the weekend struck Iranian air defenses, a ground control station and two drones that were threatening ships after "aggressive Iranian actions", including the downing of a US drone over international waters.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Monday that it had targeted an air base used by the US in response to an attack on southern Iran.

It did not identify the base, but Kuwait activated air defenses on Monday and denounced Iranian missile and drone attacks, which it said were undermining efforts to reduce tensions in the region.

Kuwait's Foreign Ministry said the alleged attacks constituted a "direct assault" on the country's security and represented a "blatant violation" of international law.

The ministry affirmed Kuwait's "full right to take all necessary measures" to preserve its security and defend its territory, holding Iran fully responsible for the alleged attacks.

Oil prices, which have risen sharply since the start of the war, gained more than 3 percent on Monday after the strikes.

The US and Iran have sporadically exchanged strikes since a ceasefire took effect in early April, while Pakistan has been mediating efforts to secure a more durable agreement. An exchange of strikes on Thursday was described in similar terms by each side.

The war launched by the US and Israel on Feb 28 has killed thousands of people, mainly in Iran and Lebanon. It has also caused global economic pain by pushing up energy prices, as the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global oil and liquefied natural gas supply route, has been effectively closed.

In a late-night social media post, US President Donald Trump did not mention the exchange of hostilities, repeating his assertion that Iran "really wants to make a deal".

He berated critics, including what he described as "seemingly unpatriotic Republicans", for negative "chirping" about negotiations to end the conflict.

"Just sit back and relax, it will all work out well in the end — It always does!" he said.

Shifting stance

Despite Trump's remarks, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei accused Washington on Monday of constantly shifting its negotiating stance and condemned what he called US aggressive action.

Sending contradictory messages would not work as a negotiating tactic, he said, urging Washington to take a clear, definitive position as soon as possible.

"Negotiations have started amid severe suspicion and mistrust, and the exchange of messages is taking place in this atmosphere," he said.

"The other party is constantly changing its views and putting forward new or contradictory demands … it is natural that this situation will prolong negotiations," he said, adding that Tehran viewed Israeli actions in the region, including in Lebanon, as inseparable from those of the US.

Trump is under pressure to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and lower US gasoline prices before November's congressional elections, as voters grow increasingly frustrated by rising prices. At the same time, he faces a potential backlash from Iran hawks in his own party over any concessions to Tehran.

Trump has said his main aim in the war is to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon with its highly enriched uranium. Tehran denies having any nuclear ambitions.

Iran was already in talks with the United States about the fate of its nuclear program in February, when the US and Israel launched air and missile strikes that wiped out much of the Islamic republic's senior leadership and plunged the Middle East into war.

While Tehran has long insisted that its nuclear program is for purely civilian ends, the US and its Western allies suspect it aims to develop an atomic weapon.

Late on Sunday, Trump posted on social media that the deal under discussion "states, very clearly, that Iran will not have a nuclear weapon".

The two sides remain at odds on several other issues, including Tehran's demands for the lifting of sanctions and the release of tens of billions of dollars in Iranian oil revenues frozen in foreign banks.

Iran has said it needs the release of $12 billion in frozen assets before engaging in substantive talks on its nuclear program, and dismissed earlier Trump comments suggesting that its stockpile of enriched uranium would be destroyed.

Agencies - Xinhua