Wars 2026 02/28 Israel-Iran War 3.0

[Saif]

Region will not serve as shields for United States bases: Mojtaba Khamenei

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said on Tuesday that regional countries would no longer be shields for United States bases, in a written statement carried by state television...

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Region will not serve as shields for United States bases: Mojtaba Khamenei
Agence France-Presse . Tehran, Iran 26 May, 2026, 15:29

The Iranian flag flutters near the Milad Tower, part of the International Trade and Convention Center of Tehran, in the capital on May 25, 2026. | AFP photo.

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said on Tuesday that regional countries would no longer be shields for United States bases, in a written statement carried by state television.

‘What is certain in this regard is that the hands of time will not turn backwards, and the nations and lands of the region will no longer serve as shields for American bases,’ said Khamenei, who has not appeared in public since he took office in March, in a message marking the Eid al-Azha holiday.

He said the United States ‘in addition to no longer having any safe haven in the region for aggression and the establishment of military bases, is moving further and further away from its former position with each passing day’.

The remarks come as Iran and the United States continued exchanges aimed at reaching a deal to end the war which began on February 28 and spread across the region.

A fragile ceasefire has been in place since April 8.

Iran’s foreign ministry has said Tehran and Washington reached understandings on many issues in exchanges over a deal for ending the war, but warned an agreement was not yet imminent.

On Tuesday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had downed a US drone and shot at other aircraft attempting to enter the country’s airspace, without specifying when the incidents took place.

In a statement, the Guards further warned ‘against any violation of the ceasefire by the aggressor US military and considers its right to reciprocal response legitimate and certain.’

On Monday, the US Central Command said forces attacked missile sites in southern Iran and boats trying to lay mines, despite the ceasefire.

Iran has not officially confirmed the US attack but state media reported blasts in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas without specifying their source.

Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, succeeded his father Ali Khamenei who was killed in the opening US-Israel strikes of February 28, triggering retaliatory attacks by Tehran across the region.​

 

[Saif]

Iran rules out negotiations on enriched uranium

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council deputy secretary Ali Baqeri said that discussions on the fate of its enriched uranium reserves ‘are not on the agenda of the talks’…

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Iran rules out negotiations on enriched uranium
New Age Online 27 May, 2026, 18:54

Iran on Wednesday ruled out any negotiation on the fate of its enriched uranium reserves with the United States.

The deputy secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Ali Baqeri, said that the issue of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile was not currently included in the ongoing negotiations with the United States, reports Iranian semi-official Tasnim News Agency.

He confirmed that indirect contacts between Tehran and Washington continued.

Talking to journalists on the sidelines of the First International Security Forum in Moscow, Ali Baqeri said that discussions on the fate of Iran’s enriched uranium reserves ‘are not on the agenda of the talks.’

He also commented on developments related to the Strait of Hormuz, saying that Iran and the United States were yet to reach a final agreement regarding the reopening of the strategic waterway, Russian state-owned domestic news agency RIA Novosti reported.

‘Until we agree on all issues, we consider that we have not agreed on anything,’ Ali Baqeri said in response to a question about negotiations concerning maritime transit in the region.

He further revealed that Iran and Oman are jointly working on a new mechanism governing vessel transit through the Strait of Hormuz.

According to him, Tehran and Muscat, as the two littoral states oversee the strait, are discussing new procedures and regulations for maritime passage that will differ significantly from the arrangements in place before the recent conflict involving Iran.

He added that indirect communications between Iran and the United States continued, without providing further details about the nature or venue of the contacts.

The remarks came amid continued diplomatic efforts and regional consultations following heightened tensions in and around the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz in the wake of the US-Israeli war of aggression against Iran.​

 

[Saif]

US commits to ending naval blockade in draft deal: Iran state TV

‘The United States has committed itself to lifting Iran’s naval blockade and to cease harassing ships passing to or from the Islamic Republic of Iran,’ Iranian state TV reports...

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US commits to ending naval blockade in draft deal: Iran state TV
Agence France-Presse . Tehran, Iran 27 May, 2026, 21:03

Donald Trump

Iranian state television said on Wednesday that a draft framework deal with the United States included a commitment to lift the naval blockade on Iran, restore traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and the US to withdraw its forces from the Gulf region.

Tehran and Washington have in recent days been swapping proposals to end the war on Iran, which broke out on February 28 and engulfed the Middle East, while a fragile ceasefire has been in place since April 8.

The report cited what it described as a draft outline of a potential memorandum of understanding, while noting that the text was ‘still not finalised’.

Iran has since kept a tight control over the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a vital global energy conduit, while the United States has imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports and coasts since April 13.

‘The United States has committed itself to lifting Iran’s naval blockade and to cease harassing ships passing to or from the Islamic Republic of Iran,’ the state TV report said.

In return Iran would allow commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz to resume as it had before the war within one month, according to the draft.

The draft says Iran would continue to manage shipping lanes, inspect vessels, and impose service fees on ships — measures which have only been imposed since the war.

Iran’s commitments would not apply to military vessels, and Tehran had not agreed ‘to unconditionally reopen the strait,’ it added.

On the withdrawal of US troops from the region, the draft said Washington had given ‘a commitment to the Islamic Republic of Iran regarding this issue’.

It added that it remained unclear whether the commitment referred only to forces deployed before and during the war, or if it also included existing US military bases in the Gulf.

Following agreement on the framework, Tehran and Washington would enter a 60-day negotiation period, the draft said, without specifying which issues would be discussed.

‘If negotiations reach a final agreement during the 60-day period, this agreement is expected to be approved by a binding resolution of the United Nations Security Council,’ it added.​