Pentagon prepares list of remaining Iran targets for possible future strikes - NBC

A political deputy commander in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy said on Tuesday the United States is in a position of “begging” for an agreement with Iran because of the impact of regional developments and energy prices on Western economies, according to official media.

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps official Mohammad Akbarzadeh said the United States and Europe remain vulnerable to fuel price fluctuations and instability in the region, describing this as leverage for Iran.

"Iran’s missile capabilities and the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz demonstrated the country’s deterrence power and Iranian armed forces were fully prepared to respond to any future attack," he said.

Akbarzadeh added the United States and Israel placed war as a “last option,” and said any military action against Iran would result in failure and humiliation for Washington.

Former US ambassador-at-large for counterterrorism Nathan Sales said on Tuesday Iran repeatedly violated a ceasefire and was “caught red-handed” while attempting to lay mines in the Strait of Hormuz, according to remarks on Fox News.

"If there's anybody who knows something about violating the cease fire, it's the Iranian regime. They've been violating it since day one, and the reason the United States took strikes yesterday is because we caught the Iranians red-handed," Sales said. "They were trying to lay mines to block the Strait of Horbus, and they were threatening our forces. So, this was entirely in self-defense. If the Iranians are concerned about the fragility of the cease fire, they can take a good look in the mirror."

Iranian political analyst Mostafa Najafi said on Tuesday the United States moved away from what he described as a failed regime-change approach and is now pursuing a phase of “crisis management” through gradual and comprehensive pressure on Iran.

"Washington after the ceasefire adjusted its strategy toward Iran, combining military pressure, maritime containment and diplomacy in a fluid strategy rather than large-scale bombing or full war," he said.

Najafi said the United States was unlikely to make major concessions in any negotiations with Iran and would not significantly lift sanctions on a country it seeks to change.

US Senator Lindsey Graham responded on Tuesday to remarks by Pakistan’s defense minister rejecting any agreement involving Israel, saying Pakistan’s role as a mediator in Iran-related diplomacy is “problematic” and raising concerns over its stance on Israel and the Abraham Accords.

"It has been apparent to me for quite a while that Pakistan as a mediator is more than problematic. Their animosity towards Israel is long standing. It is undeniable that Iranian military aircraft are being housed on Pakistani air bases and past rhetoric from the highest Pakistani officials against Israel is disturbing," Graham posted on X.

"As to the defense minister’s comments about the Abraham Accords, saying that Pakistan would never join because they don’t trust Israel: The clip may be a year old, but I fear the sentiment is fresh. In that regard, it is imperative that Pakistan give an answer now to President Trump’s call to join the Abraham Accords," he added.

Exiled prince Reza Pahlavi on Tuesday condemned the issuance of death sentences for four Iranian people, describing the move as further evidence of what it called the Islamic Republic’s use of executions as a tool of repression, his media office said.

In a statement, the office said the individuals - identified as Milad Armoon, Mohammad mehdi Hosseini, Mehdi Imani, and Navid Najaran - were among protesters from Iran’s 2022 demonstrations targeted by a judicial system it said had been turned into an instrument of intimidation and control.

"The silence from the international community in the face of executions of Iranian protesters amounted to a moral and political failure and continued inaction allows the authorities to intensify repression," the statement said.