Crucial Quote
Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf said on X Thursday, shortly after Trump’s threats, that “wrong strategies and impulsive decisions will reset the entire board of the worse, explode energy infrastructure and markets and create an endless quagmire that you will be stuck in for years. You will see a different Iran.”
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How has Iran responded to the latest strikes?
Iran’s foreign ministry called the strikes “illegal and criminal” in a statement Thursday and said they rendered the ceasefire “practically meaningless.” Iran launched missiles and drones at U.S. bases in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan this week in response to the new U.S. strikes. Kuwait temporarily closed its airspace amid the attacks and its military said Thursday it dealt with 24 hostile drones in its airspace over the past 48 hours. “The Iranian aggression resulted in limited material damage without any human casualties,” the Kuwait Army said on X. Iran on Monday also shot down an Apache helicopter off the coast of Oman. The two pilots were rescued.
Key Background
The U.S. presented Iran with a peace deal in late May that would require Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and establish a framework for ending its nuclear program, but Tehran has yet to agree to the terms. Iran has repeatedly refused for years to fully end its nuclear program, insisting it’s designed to protect Iran’s sovereignty and not to build a nuclear weapon. Tehran hasn’t publicly addressed the nuclear issue in the latest phase of negotiations. Trump has said repeatedly since the ceasefire began in April that the U.S. and Iran are close to reaching an agreement, though bouts of fighting have continued.
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further reading
Trump Says Iran Downed U.S. Helicopter—Plunging Peace Deal In Doubt (Forbes)
Trump Says U.S. Will ‘Hit’ Iran Again Today—After Previously Criticizing Lengthy Peace Talks (Forbes)
U.S. Army Helicopter Crashes Near Strait Of Hormuz—Trump Says ‘Pilots Are Fine’ (Forbes)
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