Iran MP says Hormuz will not return to previous state

Iran’s Oil Terminals Company denied reports of an oil leak near Kharg Island on Sunday after satellite imagery appeared to show a large slick west of Iran’s main oil export hub in the Persian Gulf.

The company’s chief executive said inspections had found no evidence of leaks from storage tanks, pipelines, loading facilities or tankers operating near the island.

He said Iranian teams had carried out additional field inspections and laboratory testing after the reports emerged and had not identified “even the smallest trace” of leakage.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz said Iran could not be allowed to threaten global shipping and the world economy.

“The world should not tolerate an Iranian regime that is trying to choke off the entire world’s economy,” Waltz told Fox News Sunday.

“It cannot start just throwing sea mines indiscriminately out into the ocean, attacking shipping,” he said.

Waltz said Iranian state television had also discussed targeting undersea cables that carry financial data, cloud information and other economic traffic in and out of the Persian Gulf.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran’s highly enriched uranium must be removed, saying the war had achieved “a great deal” but was not over, in an interview with CBS News’ 60 Minutes program.

“I think it accomplished a great deal, but it’s not over,” Netanyahu said.

Asked about Iran’s highly enriched uranium, Netanyahu said: “It can be done physically.”

Iran's deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs warned France and Britain against deploying warships near the Strait of Hormuz, saying any cooperation with US actions in the waterway would face an immediate response from Iran’s armed forces.

“The presence of French and British warships, or those of any other country, for possible cooperation with the United States’ illegal actions in the Strait of Hormuz, contrary to international law, will be met with a decisive and immediate response by Iran’s armed forces,” Kazem Gharibabadi, said in a post on X.

He added that Paris and London were “strongly advised not to further complicate the situation.”

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said he expected Iran to respond “very soon” to the latest US peace proposal.

“Things are tough for the leaders of Iran right now, and I think they’ve got growing motivation to make a deal,” Wright told Face the Nation on CBS News.

Wright said the United States expected the eventual outcome to include free passage through the Strait of Hormuz and an end to Iran’s nuclear program.

“At the end of the day, we’ll have free flow of traffic through the Straits of Hormuz, and we will have an end to the Iranian nuclear program,” he said.

Wright said ending Iran’s nuclear program would most likely be achieved through negotiations, but “doesn’t necessarily have to be achieved by negotiation.”