Iran’s Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, said on Tuesday that regional countries would no longer be shields for US 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-Adha holiday.
He said the US was losing influence in the region, “moving further and further away from its former status with each passing day”.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on Tuesday said they “downed” a US drone entering Iranian airspace.
China on Tuesday urged “parties concerned” to observe a fragile ceasefire in the Middle East war, after US forces attacked missile sites in southern Iran as well as boats trying to lay mines.
“We urge the parties concerned to fulfil their ceasefire commitments, resolve disputes through peaceful means... and promote the early restoration of peace,” foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a regular news briefing when asked for China’s reaction.
Reuters reported that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday negotiating a deal with Iran could “take a few days”, quashing hopes for an imminent end to the conflict a day after US forces conducted what Washington called defensive strikes in southern Iran.
Describing the strikes against targets including boats attempting to lay mines and missile launch sites, Rubio said the Strait of Hormuz has to be open “one way or the other”.
“The straits have to be open; they’re going to be open one way or the other, so they need to be open,” Rubio told reporters on his plane in India’s Jaipur.
Despite a ceasefire in place since early April, US Central Command said in a statement on Monday it had carried out fresh strikes designed “to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces”.
In another indication of the region’s tensions, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday Israel would intensify strikes against the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.
Israel’s military soon thereafter said it was attacking Hezbollah infrastructure in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley and other areas.
Israel and Lebanon agreed to a ceasefire in mid-April, but Israel has continued airstrikes it says are acts of self-defence against Hezbollah, which was not party to the truce.
Source: AFP
--Agencies
