Iran will shift to a “fully offensive” military posture because efforts to negotiate a permanent end to the war with the U.S. have stalled, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Monday, as Washington ruled out extending a temporary ceasefire agreement.
Outward progress towards peace talks and a resumption of oil tanker traffic through the strategic Strait of Hormuz has ground to a halt, threatening to extend the conflict that the U.S. and Israel launched with attacks on Iran 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.
A memorandum of understanding signed in June to end the war had given Iran and the U.S. until Monday to reach a final peace agreement.
Signed on June 17, the memorandum set a 60-day time frame for a broader deal on Iran’s nuclear programme and U.S. sanctions.
The agreement, which declared the “immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts,” quickly unravelled over a dispute about control of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas flowed before the war.
Asked by reporters on Monday if the U.S. was seeking to extend June’s interim agreement, U.S. President Donald Trump said no.