Iran International
US strikes on targets in southern Iran and Tehran's retaliatory attacks on American bases in the region have raised tensions between the two countries, even as negotiators continue indirect talks aimed at reaching a temporary agreement.
The latest escalation followed the crash of a US military helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, an incident for which Iran has denied responsibility.
Washington responded by launching attacks on what it described as military infrastructure in southern Iran. The Pentagon described the operation as “limited and proportionate,” and U.S. Central Command announced that the mission had concluded around 4 a.m. Tehran time.
Iran subsequently declared that it had struck US bases in Jordan, Kuwait, and Bahrain. The Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) also claimed in a statement that Iranian forces had shot down an MQ-9 drone in southern Iran.
Washington has not publicly confirmed the Iranian claims regarding the extent of damage inflicted on US facilities in the region.
Diplomacy and conflict side by side
Despite the exchange of military strikes, officials on both sides have continued to signal an interest in diplomacy.
While President Donald Trump has warned that further US attacks on Iran and its infrastructure remain possible, other senior officials, including Vice President J.D. Vance, have said that indirect negotiations with Tehran are continuing.
Iranian officials have also insisted that diplomatic contacts remain active. However, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei accused Washington and Israel of undermining diplomatic efforts through contradictory messages, repeated changes in positions and demands, and repeated ceasefire violations in Lebanon.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who also heads Iran’s negotiating team, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi both said Tuesday night that Iran “prefers the language of diplomacy” but retains the capability to respond militarily if necessary.
Reformist-leaning news website Rouydad24 interpreted those statements as evidence that Tehran is seeking to avoid a wider confrontation.
“Regardless of the political content of these remarks, their message was clear: Tehran does not want to climb the ladder of escalation under current circumstances,” the website wrote. “Officially accepting responsibility for an attack on a US helicopter carrying two servicemen would have run directly counter to such a strategy.”
The website also criticized Ebrahim Rezaei, spokesman for parliament’s National Security Committee and a figure associated with the hardline Paydari (Steadfastness) Party, for appearing to suggest in a post on X that Iranian forces had been responsible for the helicopter incident.
“I kiss the hand of the fighter who struck another blow against Satan by bringing down the American helicopter in the Strait of Hormuz. We will honor him as a hero,” Rezaei wrote.
Trump, meanwhile, said on Wednesday that Iran had spent too much time negotiating over what he described as an agreement that would have been highly favorable to Tehran and must now pay the price for that delay. In an interview with Fox News, he also said he was close to authorizing new strikes against Iranian power plants and bridges.
Amid the tensions, a Qatari delegation arrived in Tehran on Wednesday. Reuters, citing a source familiar with the matter, reported that Qatari negotiators had traveled to the Iranian capital after consultations with the United States to finalize a possible agreement.
Political analyst Rahman Ghahremanpour argued in a post on X that the confrontation is unlikely to spiral into a broader conflict.
“Reports about a temporary agreement are increasing and appear serious, while the clashes continue,” he wrote on X. “For now, it may be concluded that both sides are trying to demonstrate determination ahead of a possible agreement to gain more leverage at the negotiating table and to tell domestic radical groups that they are reaching a deal from a position of strength.”
Ali Khezriyan, a member of the Iranian parliament’s National Security Committee, offered a different interpretation, claiming that Trump is seeking to “exit the war with dignity” and may either launch a larger attack or attempt to weaken Iran’s position before negotiations.
Threats and counter-threats
Trump has repeatedly warned that the killing of American troops would constitute a red line. He said the two crew members aboard the downed helicopter had survived.
In a post on Truth Social on Wednesday morning, he reiterated his warning: “If an American is killed, the US response will not be proportionate; complete catastrophe is coming.”
Nour News, a media outlet close to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, dismissed the threat.
“Trump’s threat of ‘complete catastrophe’ in the event of an American death is a display of power, but it has no effect on Iran’s determination to defend itself,” the outlet wrote. “Tehran showed today that it will respond decisively to any aggression. Responsibility for any further bloodshed lies with the one who ignites the fire.”
The outlet also linked the latest developments to Israel’s military actions in Lebanon, arguing that the region’s various fronts cannot be separated.
“No ceasefire has credibility unless it encompasses all arenas of conflict, and no agreement has practical value unless the principal party assumes responsibility,” it wrote.
Khezriyan further claimed in an interview with the state-run television that Iran had destroyed 16 US regional bases during the recent conflict and was now planning attacks on American facilities beyond the Middle East.
Reactions online
The latest confrontation also generated debate among pro-government users on social media.
Davoud Modaresian, a commentator, argued that Iran should take a more proactive military approach.
“Even if there is no intention of giving a worthy response to the naval blockade imposed during the ceasefire period, Iran should at least be the initiator of these scattered and continuous strikes,” he wrote on X. “We must keep the Americans in the region engaged and exhausted through constant blows until they abandon the blockade, not wait for them to strike first and then respond.”
Hardline journalist Parisa Nasr warned that the attacks could be a precursor to a larger campaign.
“Do not doubt that these attacks are part of preparations for a large-scale operation in southern Iran,” she wrote, adding that the failure to break the naval blockade or strike targets in Israel made the situation “truly worrying.”
Tehran’s unveiling of a towering statue depicting the Roman Emperor Valerian kneeling before pre-Islamic Persian King Shapur I has renewed criticism of the Islamic Republic’s appeal to nationalist sentiment following the June war with Israel.
For over forty years, the theocracy purged ancient Persian history from schoolbooks, replacing it with post-Islamic narratives. But after the 12-day conflict with Israel, officials have turned to the distant pre-Islamic past to rally a divided society.
From murals of ancient kings and soldiers to patriotic songs added to Shi’ite mourning ceremonies performed before Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Tehran now embraces imagery once deemed heretical by its own revolutionary ethos.
'Kneel before Iran' campaign
Tehran’s Revolution (Enghelab) Square was the scene of an unusual spectacle on Friday as officials unveiled a massive bronze statue depicting Roman Emperor Valerian kneeling in submission before Sassanid King Shapur I, commemorating Iran’s victory at the Battle of Edessa (260 AD).
The event was held under the slogan “Kneel before Iran,” part of what authorities describe as a campaign to project “national unity and historical pride” following the June war with Israel.
Tehran Mayor Alireza Zakani, a staunch ultraconservative, said on X: “Enmity with Great Iran can only end in kneeling before this historic nation.”
Municipal official Davood Goodarzi said the installation would be accompanied by visual displays depicting “other victories of Iranians over foreign aggressors,” including the defeat of British forces by local commander Rais-Ali Delvari, Mirza Kuchak Khan’s resistance against Russian troops, and Surena’s triumph over Rome at the Battle of Carrhae in 53 BCE.
The goal, Goodarzi said, is “strengthening concepts such as national dignity, social unity, and Iranian identity.”
The statue, he said, would remain temporarily at Revolution Square before being moved to a city gateway “where it will stand as the first emblem of Iran before diplomats and foreign visitors.”
Unveiled women were allowed to attend the unveiling ceremony—an uncommon scene at events organized by Tehran’s ultra-hardline municipality.
The turn to the pre-Islamic past
The sharp reversal also recalls remarks once made by Khamenei. In a 2011 speech, he asserted that “all the great military victories of this nation came after Islam,” dismissing pre-Islamic accounts as “things that are not documented.”
In 1987, he had said that prophets triumphed over kings such as Cyrus and that “nothing remains of these monarchs in history but names remembered with derision.”
Nevertheless, pro-government social media accounts have now gone so far as to circulate posters equating Khamenei himself with Shapur, showing him standing with a staff as Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump kneel before him. The caption reads: “You will kneel before Iran.”
'Hypocrisy'
Pro-government figures have hailed the move as a patriotic success. Conservative political reporter Hossein Saremi posted: “Today’s grand Iranian gathering showed that people and the state share one essence: Iran itself. Nothing can take our homeland away.”
Others, however, called the spectacle “hypocrisy.” Journalist Gholamhossein Pashaei wrote on X: “Every year you close Pasargadae to stop people from celebrating Cyrus Day, yet you unveil Shapur’s statue in Enghelab Square with drums and fireworks during Fatimiyya (mourning period)!”
Dissident commentator Hamid Asafi called the ceremony “a perfect snapshot of the Islamic Republic’s contradictions.”
On Telegram he wrote: “A week ago they closed Cyrus’s tomb out of fear of the crowds, and now they glorify Shapur in the same breath. The Islamic Republic fears living history but poses for selfies with its corpse.”
He added: “They know people no longer respond to rosaries and sermons. That’s why they’ve brought history back to the stage—in a controlled costume. If they can’t erase the past, they’ll try to own it.”
The irony deepened as UNESCO formally recognized Cyrus’s Charter as one of the earliest human-rights documents.
President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote on X: “Iran, the cradle of dialogue, justice, and coexistence, can still inspire peace today.”
Users swiftly replied, questioning how such pride could coexist with a government that blocks access to Cyrus’s tomb each year to those wishing to visit it on his birthday.