Iran has ruled out the possibility of ceasefire negotiations amid ongoing military strikes by the United States and Israel.
Speaking on Monday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, said the country would not consider talks while attacks were still ongoing. According to him, Iran was already engaged in negotiations before the conflict escalated.
Baghaei insisted that Iran did not initiate the war and is currently focused on defending itself.
“Military aggression is ongoing,” Baghaei told the press. “There is little place to talk about anything other than defense and a crushing response to the enemy.”
Amid the rising tensions, Iranian security forces were reportedly deployed to mosques and other public facilities in Tehran and several other cities. According to reports citing witnesses, the operatives include members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Basij Resistance Force, a volunteer paramilitary group that operates under the IRGC.
The heightened security presence followed a series of explosions reported in Tehran and parts of Isfahan province, including Dowlatabad, Mahmoudabad, Malek Shahr, Shahin Shahr, Sepahan Shahr, and Zarrin Shahr.
Meanwhile, United States Secretary of War Pete Hegseth stated in an interview with CBS News that Washington is prepared to intensify its military operations against Iran if necessary.
Hegseth said the United States could deploy heavier conventional weapons in its campaign.
He noted that the U.S. could use “more conventional munitions, gravity bombs, 500-pound, 1,000-pound, 2,000-pound bombs on military targets…we haven’t even begun to start that effort of the campaign.”
The regional conflict has also begun to affect the Gulf’s energy sector. In Bahrain, state-owned Bapco Energies declared force majeure on its operations after an Iranian drone reportedly struck the Sitra area, impacting a refinery complex.
Similar precautionary measures have been taken across the Gulf region, with Kuwait’s state oil company, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, and QatarEnergy temporarily suspending certain operations due to the escalating conflict.
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