Iran has decided to shift its policy from defensive to "fully offensive" due to the deadlock in efforts to agree a permanent end to its war with the United States, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Monday.
Progress towards peace talks and a resumption of oil tanker traffic through the strategic Strait of Hormuz has ground to a halt, with no sign that the warring parties are moving towards ending the conflict that the U.S. and Israel launched on February 28.
"Iranian entities must be prepared to escalate tensions in the Strait of Hormuz and wider region, as Iran will be ready to make decisions and take action on difficult decisions," the Iranian official said, adding that Tehran would conduct a "timely and precise" military attack to break the U.S. naval blockade if diplomacy failed.
There was no immediate response to those comments from Washington, but U.S. President Donald Trump said in a phone interview with Fox News on Monday that Iran "should put up the white flag of surrender".
Throughout the conflict, Trump has alternated between threats of escalation and assertions that a peace deal is imminent.
TRUMP THREATENS TO BOMB OMAN
Monday marked the day by which Iran and the United States were expected to reach a final deal under a memorandum of understanding agreed in June and aimed at ending the war.
Signed on June 17, the MoU set out a 60-day timeframe, extendable by mutual consent, by which Washington and Tehran should reach a broader agreement on issues including limiting Tehran's nuclear programme and lifting U.S. sanctions.
That interim deal, which declared the "immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts", quickly unravelled, however, due to a dispute over control of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas flowed before the war.
Tehran said point 5 of the MoU gave it the right to manage the strait, which it shares with Oman, while Washington rejected that interpretation. Hostilities resumed as Tehran began firing on vessels it said were trying to sail through the waterway on an unapproved route.
Trump said on July 7 that the pact was "over". Tehran has repeatedly accused Washington of consistently violating its commitments.
"Within the short period of a few weeks set by Iran, all the agreement's provisions must be implemented by the U.S. This is a precondition for further negotiations with the U.S.," the Iranian official told Reuters, adding that mediators would share Tehran's deadline with Washington and regional states.
Tehran has separately been negotiating an agreement with Oman over management of the strait, seen as a key component of a wider deal, and says they are close to agreement, although progress has been slow.
"If Oman gets in the way, we'll bomb the shit out of them," Trump told Fox.
There was no immediate comment from Oman.
HOUTHI ATTACKS RAISE FEARS OF WIDER WAR
Thousands of people have been killed in the conflict, mainly in Iran and Lebanon, since the U.S. and Israel launched attacks on Iran at the end of February. Iran has struck U.S. assets and infrastructure in countries including Oman, Jordan, Kuwait, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
Both Iran and the United States have stepped up rhetoric over the past week.
Trump warned Americans in a speech at a rally on Friday to prepare for continued high fuel prices as a result of the war, while also saying that "after we finish defeating Iran ... pretty soon I'll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States".
Earlier on Monday, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform: "The number one Goal is, and always will be, that Iran cannot have, in any way, shape, or form, a Nuclear Weapon", repeating one of his stated rationales for the war.
Benchmark Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 have surged since the start of the war in February, hitting a peak of $126 a barrel, roughly 75% above pre-war levels, with choppy trade reflecting concerns over disruptions to Gulf oil supplies and shifting signals on peace talks.
Brent crude rose slightly on Monday, to around $89 a barrel.
Attacks by Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen have also renewed concerns about a widening regional war and the economic fallout it could bring.
In the latest incident, the Houthis attacked what they called a Saudi military ship and four escort vessels in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait with missiles, according to the group’s military spokesperson Yahya Saree on Telegram on Monday. The strait is a strategic chokepoint connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and an important international shipping route.
There was no immediate confirmation from Saudi authorities.
(Reuters)
Facts Only
* Iran shifted policy from defensive to "fully offensive."
* This shift occurred due to deadlock in efforts to end the war with the United States.
* Iranian entities must be prepared to escalate tensions in the Strait of Hormuz and the wider region.
* Iran indicated readiness to conduct a military attack to break the U.S. naval blockade if diplomacy failed.
* The interim Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on June 17 aimed for an agreement on nuclear limits and sanctions within 60 days.
* Dispute over control of the Strait of Hormuz caused the interim deal to unravel.
* Tehran claimed a right to manage the strait shared with Oman in point 5 of the MoU, which Washington rejected.
* Hostilities resumed when Tehran began firing on vessels attempting to use the waterway unapproved routes.
* U.S. President Donald Trump stated that the pact was "over" on July 7.
* Iran insisted all agreement provisions must be implemented by the U.S. as a precondition for further negotiations.
* The Houthis attacked Saudi military and escort vessels in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
* Brent crude oil futures hit a peak of $126 a barrel in February.
Executive Summary
Full Take
The situation exhibits a classic pattern where mutually contingent agreements collapse under irreconcilable disputes over control and sovereignty, demonstrating that formal diplomatic frameworks are brittle when underlying interests diverge sharply. The transition to an offensive posture reflects a strategic calculation: when negotiation channels fail, the option of unilateral action becomes prioritized. The pattern of shifting between promises of peace (the MoU) and immediate threats of escalation (military action) suggests a dynamic where perceived weakness is leveraged for leverage, creating an unstable equilibrium where risk management prioritizes punitive signaling over de-escalation. The involvement of parallel negotiations—Iran attempting to secure control over the Strait with Oman while facing external pressure—reveals that conflict dynamics are not purely bilateral but involve intricate, overlapping territorial and logistical dependencies. Furthermore, the juxtaposition of actions in the Middle East (Strait of Hormuz tension, Houthi attacks) and global economic indicators (oil price surges) illustrates how localized military friction rapidly translates into systemic, wide-ranging instability affecting energy flows and regional security assessments. The failure to secure consensus on a single framework means that agency shifts from negotiated compromise to decisive, high-stakes action when strategic windows close.
Bridge Questions: If the control of the Strait of Hormuz remains the primary fracture point, what structural mechanisms could be established to guarantee shared operational authority independent of high-level political concessions? How do alternative regional actors perceive the escalating rhetoric and military posturing in the context of broader economic interdependence? What are the long-term consequences for the viability of future multilateral agreements when unilateral escalation is presented as the ultimate fallback option?
Sentinel — Human
The text functions as standard international news reporting, synthesizing official statements, historical context, and geopolitical developments related to the conflict.