Iran on Monday dismissed the prospect of ceasefire negotiations as it continues to face daily military strikes from the United States and Israel.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei asserted that Iran was not the aggressor in this conflict and was actually engaged in talks when the attacks began.
“Military aggression is ongoing,” Baghaei told reporters. “There is little place to talk about anything other than defense and a crushing response to the enemy.”
According to Iran International, citing witness accounts, Iranian security forces were stationed at mosques and various public buildings in Tehran and several other cities on Monday.
These personnel include members of the Revolutionary Guards and the Basij Resistance Force, which is a volunteer paramilitary group under the IRGC’s command.
The increased security presence follows a series of explosions reported in Tehran and multiple areas across Isfahan, such as Dowlatabad, Mahmoudabad, Malek Shahr, Shahin Shahr, Sepahan Shahr, and Zarrin Shahr.
In a conversation with CBS News, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth stated that the United States is prepared to escalate its actions until Iran “will have no choice but to surrender.”
Hegseth noted that the U.S. could employ “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.”
In Bahrain, the state-owned Bapco Energies declared force majeure on its operations on Monday after an Iranian drone strike hit the Sitra area, impacting its refinery complex.
This declaration of force majeure has become a trend across the Gulf’s energy sector due to the regional hostilities. Similarly, Kuwait’s national oil company, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, and QatarEnergy have also temporarily suspended their operations.
