Iran still wants negotiated end to war, President says after exchanges of fire

DUBAI – Iran is still seeking a negotiated solution to its conflict with the US, President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Aug 31, a day after the two countries resumed hostilities for the first time since late July, driving oil prices up more than 3.5 per cent.

Pezeshkian’s comments also came after US President Donald Trump posted an AI-generated video clip that he said showed Iran’s oil hub Kharg Island being destroyed.

There was no evidence of any such attack, and a US official said on Aug 31 that the military had not targeted Kharg Island in overnight strikes. An Iranian official dismissed Trump’s post as “laughable”.

US forces on Aug 30 struck two Iranian launchers on Iran’s Larak Island, some 660km east of Kharg, a US official said, prompting Iran to strike two US bases in Jordan, according to Iranian media.

Two people were killed, and others were injured in the attack on Larak Island, Iran’s IRNA news agency quoted the local governor as saying on Aug 31.

The return to hostilities followed weeks in which Trump’s administration has stepped up efforts to punish Tehran and its business partners with costly economic sanctions, shifting away from military options. Diplomacy remains in stalemate.

Pezeshkian, speaking to India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of a regional security meeting in Kyrgyzstan, accused the US of failing to fulfil its commitments under past agreements.

“Nevertheless, we are still trying to achieve an agreement and understanding, and we believe that continuing the war is in no one’s interest, neither ours, nor the region’s, nor humanity’s,” Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted him as saying.

“We believe the solution to the existing issues is dialogue and cooperation and that every capacity must be used to prevent the spread of insecurity and conflict.”

‘Blown to smithereens’

Earlier, Trump had annoyed Iran by posting on his Truth Social platform the AI-generated video clip with the message: “Kharg Island being blown to smithereens!!! President DJT.”

Reuters confirmed that the video clip showing dramatic explosions was most likely synthetically generated, using software that detects AI-manipulated imagery.

The White House and the US Defense Department did not respond to Reuters requests for comment outside regular business hours.

Kharg handled 90 per cent of Iran’s oil exports before the US and Israeli launched attacks on Iran on Feb 28, ​sparking a war that would severely disrupt its energy trade and put huge pressure on the economy.

“Trump’s tweets are laughable, and conditions in Kharg are calm and appropriate,” said Hamid Bovard, chief executive of government-run National Iranian Oil, on Aug 31.

Oil operations had not stopped, and workers were busy repairing previous damage and modernising facilities, Bovard said in comments cited by Nournews, a semi-official outlet close to Iran’s top security body.

Iran vows to respond to any attacks

A US official said forces had attacked the Iranian launchers on Larak Island on Aug 30 after “Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces were observed preparing to launch rockets with sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz”.

Larak is a small island in the strait near the strategic Iranian port of Bandar Abbas. The Strait of Hormuz, which normally handles a fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas shipments, has been effectively blocked since the start of the war.

In a statement, the US Central Command said it took “limited, precise” action against minelaying forces of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards that posed an “imminent threat” in the strait. It gave no details.

As well as attacking the US bases in Jordan, Iran’s army said it had also struck the Al Minhad airbase in the United Arab Emirates early on Aug 31. However, the UAE’s defence ministry dismissed that report as false.

The UAE Defence Ministry later said its air force engaged a drone that had come from Iran over its territorial waters. It provided no further details, including whether it was shot down.

The Jordan strikes targeted US bases used to launch and support the attack on Larak, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said.

The Revolutionary Guards used air defence missiles to shoot down a US drone that crashed in Gulf waters, the Mehr news agency said on Aug 31, citing a statement from the elite force.

A supertanker caught fire and was brought to a complete halt after being struck by two naval mines in the southern Strait of Hormuz, Iran state TV said, citing a Guards’ statement.

Piling economic pressure on Iran

Trump has yet to achieve the objectives he set out at the start of the war: dismantling Iran’s nuclear programme, curbing its ability to attack regional rivals and creating conditions for Iranians to overthrow their clerical rulers.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Reuters on Aug 30 new secondary sanctions were likely to be unveiled weekly in the effort to pressure Iran, with an initial focus on banks.

The European Union said on Aug 31 it would continue to work with the US and others to maintain economic pressure on Iran.

The Guards said the supertanker on fire after being hit by mines had been attempting to pass through the waterway illegally, but gave no details of the vessel or crew, according to a statement cited by state television.

Last week, Trump ​said all mines ‌had been detonated or removed from the international waters of the strait and Iran had been warned that any vessel placing new mines would be ​destroyed.

Iran denied Trump’s assertion. REUTERS