Iran says fighting 'full-scale war' with US

DUBAI — Iran is fighting a “full-scale war” with the United States, its president said on Monday, as Washington expanded its strikes across the Islamic republic including a city hosting a nuclear power plant.Iran kept up its own attacks across the region in response, with its Revolutionary Guards announcing they had hit targets in Bahrain, Jordan and Syria, while Bahrain said Tehran had targeted its air navigation systems.”The reality is that today the Islamic Republic of Iran is engaged in a full-scale war,” said President Masoud Pezeshkian, according to a presidency statement.He added that “we must be realistic and accept the natural consequences of this resistance.”His comments came after state media and local authorities reported US strikes on Monday in the north and center of the country, further than areas near the blockaded Strait of Hormuz waterway through which a fifth of world oil supplies transited prior to the war.The war resumed after a weeks-long lull prompted by an agreement signed in June, and oil prices surged to a one-month high as the foes battled to control the vital Strait of Hormuz.As its truce with the US collapsed, Tehran reimposed its blockade of the waterway, while Washington hit back by again blockading Iran’s ports.All of the Iranian provinces hit on Monday host military bases and air defence systems.In Bushehr, home to the country’s only operational civilian nuclear power plant, governor Mohammad Mozaffari told state news agency IRNA: “A few minutes ago, several locations in Bushehr city were hit by American enemy’s projectiles.”In East Azerbaijan province in the north, the head of the local crisis management unit Majid Farshi told IRNA that “one person was martyred and several others injured” in an attack there.Despite the latest attacks, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said diplomatic exchanges with the United States via mediators were ongoing.”Ideas have been conveyed to us by certain mediators,” he told a press conference in Tehran attended by AFP.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio mirrored that same approach, saying Washington remains open to diplomacy, but that the deal must be “real” and one that Iran is “willing to live by”.”They can’t have an MOU that’s alive if they’re violating the terms of it,” Rubio said. “The United States always remains open to a diplomatic solution. We’ve tried multiple times with Iran, and we’ll continue to try”.Rubio claimed US officials would “continue to try” pushing for long term peace with Tehran. “(Iranian officials) continue to send signals that they want to talk, that they want to negotiate, but their behavior is what we’re responding to,” he told reporters.When asked if Tehran was amenable to discussions, Rubio said he’d received signals “directly” and “through multiple channels from other countries.”Baghaei said the mediators “remained active” but that forces would prolong “defensive military operations for as long as attacks continue.”Iran’s Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni was set to travel to mediator Pakistan’s capital on Monday, a Pakistani interior ministry source told AFP, without confirming the reason. On Saturday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei warned of “unforgettable lessons” if the US keeps attacking the Islamic Republic in a statement read on state-run TV.Khamenei, who has not been seen in public since the war began, called Trump’s signature on the interim ceasefire deal “worthless and invalid”.His comments came hours after a negotiator said Tehran was suspending its commitments to the agreement.President Donald Trump said the latest strikes by the US hit Iran “very hard”, adding that the attacks were “in honor” of three US soldiers killed in recent days — two in Jordan, one in Iraq.In the early hours of Monday local time, US Central Command said it had launched a “new wave” of strikes for the ninth consecutive night as explosions were heard across Iran.In a post on X, Central Command said it targeted “Iranian military command centers, air defense and coastal surveillance sites, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and communications networks”.Baghaei warned Tehran would not implement the 14-point agreement after Washington “violated it.” US Secretary of State Rubio relayed that accusation and said Iran was “not complying” with plan, telling reporters on Sunday, “They can’t have an MOU that’s alive if they’re violating the terms.”The latest attack came after Washington announced the death of three US service members.Two were killed during an Iranian attack on a US base in Jordan, and another service member died in Iraq on Saturday during the “controlled detonation” of a downed Iranian drone.”We’ll see what happens but we hit them very hard again tonight,” US President Donald Trump told reporters upon his return to Washington following the World Cup final, adding that the strikes were “in honor” of the “three great patriots”.Meanwhile, the Pentagon identified two soldiers – 1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, and Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19 – who were killed in Iranian strikes in Jordan last week.They were killed as part of the Friday attack on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan.Gonzales, of Carrollton, Texas, died Friday, while Feehan, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, died Saturday, the Defense Department said.The deaths mark the first American casualties resulting from Iranian strikes since March.In Iran, more than 50 people have been killed and 517 others injured between June 27 and July 19, state media IRNA reported on Sunday, citing the country’s health ministry.On its end, Iran’s IRGC said on Monday that it launched a “surprise attack” on an “enemy” command center in Syria, state media reported.Kuwait’s army said it was responding to an Iranian attack. “Any explosions heard are a result of air defence systems intercepting the hostile attacks,” it said in a statement on X.Bahrain also sounded its missile alert sirens Monday morning, warning of an incoming Iranian attack.Iran’s IRGC said its navy has delivered “heavy blows” to the US military with three simultaneous attacks.In a statement carried by the IRNA news agency, it said it struck US “drone maintenance and repair sheds” at Al-Sakhir Airport in Bahrain alleging it resulted in their “destruction”.It also attacked US Navy Task Force 59 vessel preparation sheds in Salman Port in Bahrain causing “destruction and heavy damage”, it said.In Kuwait, the IRGC said it set fire to and “completely destroyed” Marine Special Forces sheds at the Arifjan base.The statement went on to say that President Trump “revealed his foolishness and ignorance” by claiming that Iran had few missiles and drones left, and if the war lasts several years Iran will have enough weapons until the last day.Rubio said on Sunday that Iran is using the Strait of Hormuz as leverage and urged other countries to “step up” pressure and share the burden to protect global shipping.”It’s clear that Iran, at least some people in Iran, want to control the straits and hold that as leverage against the world,” Rubio told reporters ahead of travelling to the Philippines for a meeting of foreign ministers with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).Traffic in the strait has once again largely stalled amid the intensified fighting, driving Brent crude above $90 a barrel on Monday. The renewed hostilities erupted despite an interim ceasefire after Iran attacked ships transiting the strategic waterway.”The United States will do and continue to do what it needs to, to protect global shipping, but other countries need to begin to step up and provide, whether it’s hardware or finances, to help carry that burden,” Rubio added.In the past week, Trump threatened to target power stations and bridges to try to compel Iran to loosen its hold. US airstrikes on Saturday hit an electricity and desalination plant in Iran’s southern Hormozgan province, Iranian state TV reported.The IRNA state news agency said the Bonji desalination plant was destroyed, cutting off water supplies to about 10,000 people, and that a desalination plant on the strategic Qeshm Island in the strait was damaged.It reported that three bridges were hit Saturday, including one on a route to Bandar Abbas, Iran’s main port that sits near the narrowest part of the strait.