Iran shifts to offensive posture as Hormuz standoff deepens, tensions spread across region

Iran has moved from a defensive to what a senior Iranian official called a fully offensive strategy, citing a deadlock in efforts to reach a lasting end to its war with the United States, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke to a foreign news agency on Monday.

Progress toward peace talks and the resumption of oil tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has stalled, with no indication that either side is moving closer to ending the conflict the United States and Israel launched on February 28. The official said Iranian entities must prepare to escalate tensions in the strait and across the wider region, adding that Tehran stands ready to make difficult decisions and would carry out a precise military strike to break the US naval blockade if diplomacy collapses. Washington did not immediately respond to those remarks, though President Donald Trump told Fox News earlier in the day that Iran should raise the white flag of surrender. Throughout the conflict, Trump has swung between threats of further escalation and claims that a peace deal sits within reach.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps pushed back hard on one such claim Monday, rejecting as false Trump’s assertion that Washington maintains backchannel contact with IRGC officials on matters related to the war. Spokesman Hossein Mohibbi told Iran’s Tasnim news agency that no talks are taking place between IRGC officials and American counterparts, describing Trump’s claims as fantasies stemming from desperation over battlefield setbacks. Mohibbi said diplomatic matters fall to other Iranian institutions and remain outside the Guard’s purview, adding that current information from the Foreign Ministry confirms no talks are underway even at that level. He argued Trump’s statements amount to an attempt to influence global energy prices. Trump had told reporters earlier Monday that his administration keeps a backchannel with the IRGC and speaks directly with its officials inside Iran.

Trump also issued a separate warning aimed at Oman, saying Washington would respond with force if the sultanate interferes with US Iran negotiations. Asked about Oman’s role in talks touching on Iran and the Strait of Hormuz, Trump told Fox News the United States would bomb Oman if it gets in the way. The comment came after Iran said Saturday that it had reached agreement with Oman on a shipping route map for the strait following weeks of technical talks. Trump separately confirmed the administration’s direct channel with the IRGC and repeated that Tehran should surrender, calling Iranian officials skilled negotiators who are nonetheless losing ground.

Fighting also intensified elsewhere in the region. Yemen’s Houthi movement claimed Monday that it struck several Saudi naval vessels along with a weapons depot in a broad missile and drone assault. Spokesman Yahya Saree said a Saudi amphibious transport ship and accompanying vessels were hit in a precise aerial attack involving multiple ballistic missiles, claiming several ships sank while others caught fire. He said Houthi forces also used multiple drones to strike a Saudi weapons depot at the Sahn al Jin camp in Yemen’s Marib province. Saudi authorities had not confirmed the claims as of publication. Separately, Yemen’s army said Monday it detected two hypersonic ballistic missiles fired by Houthi forces toward the city of Mocha and the Red Sea, launched from a former air defense brigade headquarters east of Taiz. No information on casualties or damage was immediately available, and the Houthis did not comment. The launch followed a claim from Yemen’s National Resistance Forces that Houthi fighters had targeted Mocha with seven drones a day earlier, adding to fears of renewed full scale conflict in a country that had seen relative calm since April 2022 following nearly twelve years of civil war.

On the Iranian side, IRGC Deputy Commander in Chief Major General Mostafa Izadi said Iranian forces shot down more than 200 enemy aircraft during the recent war with the United States and Israel, according to Iran’s Fars news agency. Izadi said the conflict left the Islamic system undamaged and demonstrated Iran’s strength to the world. Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf went further, declaring both a military and political victory over Washington and Israel on the day a 60 day ceasefire under the Islamabad memorandum was set to expire. Ghalibaf said the US and Israel failed to achieve any of nine publicly stated objectives in the war, calling it their biggest failure. Trump, meanwhile, reiterated on his Truth Social platform that Iran cannot possess a nuclear weapon in any form, describing this as Washington’s permanent top priority.

Iran also pressed a separate grievance Monday, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei blaming pollution in Gulf waters on decades of US military presence and operations in the region. Baghaei said the environmental damage stems from American military activity over the past five decades and called for Washington to be held accountable, estimating losses in the trillions of dollars. His comments followed Iran’s request last week for compensation after an oil slick reached the island of Qeshm, which officials said has since been cleaned up. Separately, salvage efforts continued for a grounded tanker leaking Russian crude off Oman’s coast, with officials citing monsoon weather and the shallow, rocky seabed as major obstacles. Mohammed bin Abdullah al Rawahi of Oman’s transport ministry said the conditions expose salvage vessels to operational and navigational risks, compounded by flooding damage to one side of the tanker.

Diplomatic efforts on Gaza also advanced Monday, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu due to meet Trump envoy Jared Kushner a day after a rare meeting between Kushner and Hamas officials in Cairo. A diplomatic source said Hamas leader Khalil Al Hayya attended some sessions with Kushner and Gaza peace envoy Nickolay Mladenov. Trump said in late July that a deal had been reached on the complete disarmament of Hamas and other armed groups, though Netanyahu, facing an October re election vote, has publicly rejected the plan. Trump separately welcomed the signing of the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement by Turkiye, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, saying on Truth Social he was very happy to see the pact finally completed.