The top U.S. and Iranian diplomats signaled separately that they remained open to negotiating even as the two sides traded strikes on Monday, more than a week into a spiraling escalation in their war.
Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, said the country had “emerged as a significant interactional actor” from the war, which began in February, and had demonstrated its “resilience.” His comments sought to portray Tehran as having gained from the conflict despite the heavy loss of life and damage inflicted by months of punishing U.S. and Israeli strikes.
“The right time to negotiate is exactly when you have achieved reliable battlefield and strategic gains,” Mr. Araghchi said, according to remarks published by IRNA, the state broadcaster. He also warned against taking “risks with people’s lives and the fate of the entire country.”
Esmail Baghaei, the Iranian foreign ministry’s spokesman, said at a news conference that Tehran had received proposals from mediators who were “trying to prevent an escalation of tensions,” though he declined to provide details.
Even as Iranian forces were actively countering U.S. attacks, he said, “diplomacy also knows its duties well and spares no efforts.”
His comments came hours after Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States was still willing to pursue diplomacy without disclosing new details.
“Their behavior has to change in order for ours to change,” he told reporters at Joint Base Andrews, in Maryland, before he departed for an Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Manila.
Still, after more than a week of escalating strikes that shattered the cease-fire the two sides had reached last month, there were no imminent signs of talks. Tehran and Washington have both sought to assert control over the Strait of Hormuz, the critical waterway for global oil and gas supplies, though the attacks in recent days have widened to include infrastructure in the Middle East, including bridges and water facilities.
As U.S. forces launched a ninth night of attacks against Iran on Sunday, Mr. Rubio accused Tehran of striking more ships that day. Iran’s attacks on vessels traversing the Strait of Hormuz violated the terms of the memorandum of understanding that Washington and Tehran had signed in June, he said.
Tehran has interpreted that deal to mean that it alone can determine which route ships take through the strait. Iran has struck vessels that have sought to use an alternate route close to Oman’s coastline.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said on Monday that two oil tankers had “exploded and were forced to cease movement” after trying to traverse the Strait of Hormuz via a route that Tehran had warned ships not to take. The Guards did not directly claim responsibility for the strikes. A British navy monitoring agency said earlier on Monday that a vessel was on fire off the coast of Oman.
Mr. Rubio, responding to a question about President Trump’s canceled plan to charge a fee for guiding ships through the strait, called on other countries to step up. It was “not the United States’ job to protect shipping for the entire planet forever,” he said.
“Other countries need to begin to step up and provide — whether it’s hardware or finances — to help carry that burden,” Mr. Rubio added.
