Iran hardliner says negotiations are a tool, not a goal

Iran’s judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei said Saturday that Tehran would pursue those it holds responsible for alleged war crimes during the two recent conflicts and seek compensation for the damage caused.

“War criminals must be punished in proportion to the crimes they committed, and they must also pay compensation,” Ejei said at a meeting with international lawyers involved in pursuing cases against Israeli officials.

He said Iran’s prosecutor-general, the judiciary’s international affairs office and its lawyers’ center were gathering evidence against the United States and Israel, including material related to Ali Khamenei’s killing and attacks on a school in Minab.

A US official told ABC News that any agreement with Iran would depend on Tehran handing over highly enriched uranium buried under rubble after US airstrikes, referring to the material as “nuclear dust.”

“Either they’re going to give us the nuclear dust or we have very low-cost military options to ensure that it remains buried underground forever,” the official said.

The official said Washington retained military, diplomatic and economic leverage if Iran refused.

“We have a lot of options if they resist giving the dust,” the official said. “The United States fundamentally has the cards. We want the dust.”

“But I want to be clear here that if we don’t get the dust, we do not have a deal with Iran,” the official added.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Oman on Saturday for talks on the Strait of Hormuz and efforts to prevent the renewed US-Iran confrontation from widening.

The latest escalation followed attacks on three commercial vessels using the shipping lane on the Omani side of the Strait of Hormuz. Washington blamed Iranian forces and struck Iranian coastal and naval targets. Tehran disputed responsibility but warned that ships using routes not coordinated with it faced danger.

After the June ceasefire, commercial vessels increasingly used an Oman-backed southern corridor rather than Iran-designated routes.

The shift angered hardliners who feared it could weaken the Islamic Republic’s claim to control shipping through the strait.

The roughly 167-km waterway separates Iran from Oman’s Musandam Peninsula. At its narrowest it is about 54 km wide, with Iranian and Omani territorial waters covering the passage.

The established two-mile shipping lanes run mainly through Omani waters, but international law protects transit through straits used for global navigation.

The governor of Pakdasht said explosions heard east of Tehran were caused by a controlled operation to dispose of explosive materials.

“The explosions heard a few minutes ago in eastern Tehran province were related to a controlled operation to dispose of explosive materials,” the governor said. “There is no cause for concern for citizens.”

Residents in Pakdasht and Qiamdasht had earlier reported hearing several explosions, prompting speculation over their source.

The area lies near the Parchin and Khojir military-industrial complexes, which have been linked to the Islamic Republic’s missile, explosives and defense programs and have previously been targeted in Israeli strikes.

There was no indication that either facility had been attacked in the latest incident.

The IRGC-affiliated Fars News agency called for Iranian strikes on the ports of Haifa in Israel and Jebel Ali in the United Arab Emirates in response to a US attack on a railway bridge in northern Iran.

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  A remote bridge shows how US-Iran war is expanding

Fars described the strike on the the Aq Tekeh Khan railway bridge near Aqqala in Golestan province as part of a “war of corridors,” referring to competition over strategic transport and trade routes.

“We must target Haifa and Jebel Ali,” the agency wrote.

The hardline Kayhan newspaper separately called for missile strikes on the King Fahd Causeway, which links Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, and on regional oil refineries.

“When the Aqqala bridge is targeted, the King Fahd Causeway should be targeted without prior warning,” Kayhan wrote. “If our refineries are attacked, their refineries should be attacked.”

Kayhan argued that countries hosting US forces should not be treated as independent actors if attacks on Iran were launched from their territory, saying that striking them would amount to striking the United States and Israel.