Iran's government condemned a fresh US military strike as a breach of ceasefire terms but showed no signs of abandoning ongoing peace negotiations, signaling that both sides remain locked in talks despite the renewed fighting.
The Iranian foreign ministry called Tuesday's American bombing run an act of bad faith. US forces targeted Iranian missile launchers and operations aimed at mining the Strait of Hormuz. Four Iranian soldiers died in the strikes. Yet Tehran did not withdraw from discussions being shepherded by Pakistan and Qatar, a notable show of restraint given the immediate provocation.
The Iranian military offered no announcement of specific retaliation, suggesting leadership made a calculated choice to preserve momentum toward an agreement it views as a historic national achievement. Oil markets reacted sharply, with Brent crude futures climbing 4 percent on news of the escalation.
The persistence of talks despite active military engagement underscores how fragile yet functional the diplomatic channel has become. Both governments appear to recognize that a single cycle of strike and counter-strike could unravel months of delicate negotiation.
President Trump, meanwhile, demonstrated his awareness of the conflict's critical juncture by announcing a rare cabinet gathering at Camp David in Maryland. He postponed the meeting on Tuesday, citing bad weather in a Truth Social post.
Trump has fielded mounting questions about whether any final agreement would satisfy the war aims he articulated at the conflict's outset. On Tuesday, he recycled a rambling social media message from the previous week asserting that Democrats and media outlets would declare Iran victorious regardless of actual surrender terms, describing a hypothetical scenario in which Tehran admitted military defeat while raising white flags.
Author James Rodriguez: "Two nuclear-armed powers still shooting at each other while negotiators sit across the table tells you everything about how close this deal is to collapsing."
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