In Reply to: Just another manic Monday* posted by mh on August 17, 2026 at 10:43:40
- Iran will escalate if interim peace deal is not implemented, says official
- Interim agreement struck in June quickly unravelled
- President Trump says he will bomb Oman if it 'gets in the way'
Iran has decided to shift its policy from defensive to "fully offensive" due to the deadlock in efforts to agree a permanent end to its war with the United States, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Monday.
Progress towards peace talks and a resumption of oil tanker traffic through the strategic Strait of Hormuz has ground to a halt, with no sign that the warring parties are moving towards ending the conflict that the U.S. and Israel launched on February 28.
"Iranian entities must be prepared to escalate tensions in the Strait of Hormuz and wider region, as Iran will be ready to make decisions and take action on difficult decisions," the Iranian official said, adding that Tehran would conduct a "timely and precise" military attack to break the U.S. naval blockade if diplomacy failed.
There was no immediate response to those comments from Washington, but U.S. President Donald Trump said in a phone interview with Fox News on Monday that Iran "should put up the white flag of surrender".
Throughout the conflict, Trump has alternated between threats of escalation and assertions that a peace deal is imminent.