A top Iranian official has warned that the government is prepared for a long war with the US and signaled that it is willing to continue attacking Gulf countries in an effort to persuade them to convince President Donald Trump to step back from the conflict.

The warning came in an exclusive CNN interview in Tehran with Kamal Kharazi, foreign policy adviser to the office of the Supreme Leader, who ruled out diplomacy for now and said the war would only end through economic pain – signaling a hardening of the government’s stance on day 10 of the conflict.

“I don’t see any room for diplomacy anymore,” Kharazi told CNN on Monday.

“There’s no room unless the economic pressure would be built up to the extent that other countries would intervene to guarantee (the) termination of aggression of Americans and Israelis against Iran,” Kharazi said, suggesting that Gulf Arab countries and beyond need to put pressure on the US to end the war.

“This war has been producing a lot of pressure – economic pressure – on others, in terms of inflation, in terms of lack of energy, and so if it will be continued, this pressure will be built up more, and therefore others have no choice (but) to intervene,” he said.

Since the US and Israel launched the war, Iran has struck a slew of countries across the Middle East. Tehran claims it is targeting US interests in Gulf nations but residential buildings and airports have also repeatedly come under attack.

The Iranian strikes have exploited the fragility of the global energy trade including infrastructure and transit routes. Maritime traffic through the Straight of Hormuz has all but collapsed, with crude oil prices surging past $100 a barrel on Monday, rattling wallets and the stock market.

Source: CNN

- Agencies