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Iran's foreign minister: 'Iranians never bow to pressure'
The Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has issued a statement on social media accusing the US of “reckless military adventure” amid diplomatic efforts to end the war.
It is the first comments by the minister after the US and Iran traded attacks over the strait of Hormuz, with both sides blaming each other for breaking the month-old truce.
In his statement, Araghchi said:
Every time a diplomatic solution is on the able, the US opts for a reckless military adventure. Is it a crude pressure tactic? Or the result of a spoiler once again duping [Donald Trump] into another quagmire?
Whatever the causes, the outcome is the same: Iranians never bow to pressure and diplomacy is always the victim.
Also, the CIA is wrong. Our missile inventory and launcher capacity are not at 75% compared to Feb 28 The correct figure is 120%.
As for our readiness to defence our people: 1,000%
He was referring to a report by the Washington Post, citing US intelligence, that Iran retains about 75% of its prewar inventories of mobile launchers and about 70% of its stockpiles of missiles.
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Here are some of the latest images on the newswires from across the Middle East:
Summary of developments so far
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US secretary of state Marco Rubio said Washington was expecting a response from Iran today to its proposal to end the war. “We’ll see what the response entails,” he said. “The hope is it’s something that can put us into a serious process of negotiation.”
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Washington and Tehran are negotiating a US proposal for both sides to reach an agreement to reopen the strait of Hormuz and cease hostilities for 30 days as they work on a more lasting deal, according to the New York Times, citing sources.
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The Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has accused the US of undermining diplomatic efforts to end the war, saying Washington was instead opting for “reckless military adventure”. In his first comments after the US and Iran traded attacks over the strait of Hormuz, he said: “Iranians never bow to pressure and diplomacy is always the victim.”
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The US said it carried out strikes on Iranian military targets after an attack on three American destroyers in the strait of Hormuz yesterday, while Tehran accused Washington of striking first. The exchange of fire threatens to unravel a fragile ceasefire in effect since 8 April.
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Despite the tit-for-tat attacks, Donald Trump insisted the truce remains intact. “The ceasefire is going. It’s in effect,” the US president said yesterday, describing the strikes as “just a love tap”.
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The UAE defence ministry said its air defence systems intercepted missiles and drone attacks from Iran. So far today, it downed two ballistic missiles and three drones, the ministry reported.
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Iranian state media blamed the UAE for reported strikes in southern Iran yesterday. The semi-official Tasnim news agency, citing sources, reported that there were signs of UAE involvement in attacks on Qeshm, an Iranian island in the strait of Hormuz.
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In Lebanon, where another nominal ceasefire continues to be challenged, Israel has launched attacks across the south as fighting intensified with the Iran-backed group Hezbollah. The Lebanese health ministry and national news agency have reported at least five people were killed today in Israeli strikes, including a rescue worker with the civil defence.
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Direct talks between Israel and Lebanon were scheduled to resume next week in Washington, the Associated Press reported, citing a US official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss plans for the closed-door meetings. The official said talks will be held 14 and 15 May.
Rubio says Iran asserts it has the right to control an “international waterway”, referring to the strait of Hormuz, which Iran effectively closed in response to the US and Israeli attacks on Tehran in late February.
The US, hit hard by rising gas prices and fertiliser costs, has been pressuring Iran to reopen the strait, enforcing a naval blockade of Iranian ports.
Rubio was asked if he has had conversations with the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, or Italian foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, about helping the US unblock the strait by providing “escorts” to help commercial ships be guided safely through.
So far, Italy and other European countries have been resistant, not wanting to get dragged into the US war, even though their economies have also suffered as energy prices have surged. Rubio refused to be drawn on specific conversations he has had. But said:
Everybody says Iran is a threat. Everybody says that Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon. Okay. But you have to do something about it. The president is trying to do something about it. I don’t understand why anybody would not be supportive of that.
But here is a more fundamental problem. Iran now claims that they have a right to control an international waterway. They claim that they have a right to control it. What is the world going to do about that? Is the world going to accept that Iran now controls an international waterway.
Because if the world is prepared to accept that, then be ready because there are like ten other countries that are going to start doing the same thing in international waterways near their countries. That is an unacceptable thing they are trying to normalise.
Asked by a reporter if the US has communicated any “red lines” to Iran in their proposal, Marco Rubio replied: “Well the red line is clear, if they threaten Americans they are going to get blown up. How much clearer can you be than that?”
“We are not going to let our ships get sunk by the Iranians with their drones that they are firing,” the secretary of state said.
“They don’t have a Navy anymore but they bring out these little Boston whaler fishing boats and they try to swarm you. We are going to blow those boats up if they are coming towards our boats. I don’t know if that is a red line but I hope they know it is by now.”
The US is now framing any attacks it launches as purely defensive ones that do not constitute a resumption of major combat operations against Iran.
As my colleague notes in this story, the Trump administration is facing increasing pressure over how it frames the US-Israeli war on Iran to Congress because of the war powers resolution, a law that typically requires presidents to seek formal approval from Congress for war activities 60 days after beginning military action.
On the eve of the 60 day war powers deadline expiring last week, a senior official of the Trump administration said the US had “terminated” hostilities with Iran since the shaky 8 April ceasefire.
Rubio says US should get Iran response on Friday
Marco Rubio also told reporters in Rome that the US should get a response on Friday from Iran to its proposal to end the war.
“We’ll see what the response entails. The hope is it’s something that can put us into a serious process of negotiation,” Rubio said.
Axios has been reporting that the US believes it could be getting closer to reaching a 14-point memorandum of understanding with Iran, which could set the basis for more detailed nuclear negotiations at a later date.
US and Iran exchanged fire late on Thursday in the most serious test yet of their month-long ceasefire, raising questions about the likelihood of a lasting agreement being secured.
Hezbollah started firing at Israel shortly after the US and Israel launched its war on Iran by killing the country’s former supreme leader. Israel responded with airstrikes and launched a ground invasion of southern Lebanon.
Despite a US brokered ceasefire agreement, Israel and Hezbollah have continued with their attacks, accusing each other of violations.
Israel has been accused of violating the ceasefire agreement many times, with strikes killing civilians and homes continuing to be demolished despite the military saying it is only targeting Hezbollah sites.
Under the agreement’s terms, Israel was effectively given permission to continue its assault on Lebanon as it retained a “right to take all necessary measures in self-defence, at any time, against planned, imminent, or ongoing attacks”.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has been speaking to the press after meeting with the Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni. He said the reasons why Lebanon “faces violence” is because of the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
He said the US wants to empower and “equip” the Lebanese government to confront the “threat” of Hezbollah. He said Italy is among the countries that can play a role in helping “equip” the government and cutting off the financing that supports Hezbollah.
Rubio said Hezbollah is still capable of” “inflicting damage” even though it has been “weakened”. “We are not going to negotiate with Iran over Hezbollah.” “I think our role is with the Lebanese government,” he said.
“Lebanon should be governed by the Lebanese government. It should not have a terrorist group operating within its national territory that poses a threat both to its own people – including the Shia population – and to the government and to Israel and to its other neighbours.”
Israeli and US strikes against Iran’s nuclear sites have set back Tehran’s ability to develop a nuclear weapon, potentially extending the timeline to build one by nine months to two years, according to the Institute for Science and International Security.
In a report published this week, the Washington-based thinktank said it identified at least six nuclear sites that were attacked since the war began on 28 February, including uranium enrichment facilities.
It said before US-Israeli strikes on Iran’s key nuclear sites in June 2025, Tehran could have built a non-missile deliverable nuclear weapon with almost 100% certainty in less than six months.
Describing the situation now, it said:
It [Iran] will face a much more difficult struggle towards success if it tries in the coming months, and the probability of succeeding, whether it be in nine months, one year, or two years, is now much less technically certain, and significantly less than 100 percent.
Today is the Palestine Marathon, which has returned after a two-year hiatus due to war.
Hundreds of runners set off from the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, the starting point of the race, with a parallel 5km run taking place in the Gaza Strip.
Here are some images from both of those events:
Iran's foreign minister: 'Iranians never bow to pressure'
The Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has issued a statement on social media accusing the US of “reckless military adventure” amid diplomatic efforts to end the war.
It is the first comments by the minister after the US and Iran traded attacks over the strait of Hormuz, with both sides blaming each other for breaking the month-old truce.
In his statement, Araghchi said:
Every time a diplomatic solution is on the able, the US opts for a reckless military adventure. Is it a crude pressure tactic? Or the result of a spoiler once again duping [Donald Trump] into another quagmire?
Whatever the causes, the outcome is the same: Iranians never bow to pressure and diplomacy is always the victim.
Also, the CIA is wrong. Our missile inventory and launcher capacity are not at 75% compared to Feb 28 The correct figure is 120%.
As for our readiness to defence our people: 1,000%
He was referring to a report by the Washington Post, citing US intelligence, that Iran retains about 75% of its prewar inventories of mobile launchers and about 70% of its stockpiles of missiles.
