Iran urges US to honor June deal

Iran said on Tuesday it would "immediately" reciprocate if the United States returned to the June deal aimed at ending the conflict, after US President Donald Trump threatened to hit the foe "hard" following the exchange of fire between both sides for the first time in weeks and his treasury chief pledged to keep the pressure on Iran's economy.

"If the US returns to its commitments under the aforementioned memorandum of understanding, the Islamic Republic of Iran will immediately take reciprocal action," Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, according to the Iranian presidency's official website. Also in Bishkek, Pezeshkian held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Iranian presidency said.

A day earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi made a similar appeal, saying Washington must honor commitments set down in the accord. "In that case, everything can be put back on the right track, bringing the war to an end as soon as possible," he said.

The nonbinding memorandum was meant to halt hostilities that erupted in late February, when US and Israeli strikes killed Iran's then supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

Tehran's latest diplomatic offer emerged as the Strait of Hormuz remained the central flashpoint between the two sides. The US carried out strikes on the island of Larak in the waterway on Sunday, with Tehran quickly retaliating by attacking US military assets in the Middle East.

The tit-for-tat strikes raised fears of a return to major hostilities, with Trump vowing to respond. "We're going to hit them hard," Trump said, according to a Fox News reporter who spoke to him briefly. "There will be a response."

But Trump said that Sunday's strikes against Iran were "very limited", with Al Jazeera noting that he refused to say whether the latest clashes signaled a return to full-scale war.

After his warning, global crude prices climbed further on Tuesday, building on Monday's more than 2 percent rally. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, a maritime watchdog, said on Tuesday that three "unknown projectiles" struck a tanker in the strait overnight.

"The calibrated nature of the initial actions suggests neither side is actively seeking a return to sustained conflict, but stalled talks and the strategic importance of keeping the strait open leave the situation vulnerable to further escalation," Rodrigo Catril, a strategist at National Australia Bank, told AFP.

After six months, the conflict has remained deadlocked. The US administration has increasingly pivoted toward a strategy of sustained economic warfare against Tehran.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent vowed at a G20 meeting in North Carolina to continue exerting pressure on Iran and said that a turning point in the economic campaign could come "within weeks or months".

Lack of cohesive strategy

However, a former senior US diplomat argued the handling of the crisis exposed that the White House lacks a cohesive strategy.

Over the course of the war, the administration instead appears to have adopted the attitude of "you try one thing, if that doesn't work, try another thing. If that doesn't work, try something else", Adam Ereli, a former US ambassador to Bahrain, told Al Jazeera.

In a clear rift within Washington's defense circles, US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll has submitted his resignation to Trump, ending an 18-month tenure after months of reported friction with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

The White House confirmed Driscoll's departure on Monday but gave no reason, and it was initially unclear whether Trump had accepted the resignation.

Meanwhile, Iran's Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati pushed back against Bessent's claims that Iran's economy was on the brink of collapse.

The central bank was ready to inject up to $2 billion into the foreign exchange market to calm recent volatility, according to the semiofficial Tasnim News Agency. "I am telling the US president: Iran has (foreign) currency and it has enough," Hemmati said.

Agencies contributed to this story.

Contact the writers at cuihaipei@chinadaily.com.cn