Tehran says it has tested US willingness for diplomacy

People are ready to welcome any US force that attempted to seize Kharg Island, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Monday when asked about reported remarks by US President Donald Trump on the possibility of seizing the island.

"They will see the consequences," Baghaei said. "I think there are many people in those areas, and there are quite a few of them, who are waiting to welcome these individuals."

Iran's role in the Strait of Hormuz are not open to negotiation, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said.

Baghaei said Iran's position as a coastal state gave it “legal rights” in the strategic waterway regardless of any memorandum of understanding.

He said recent US and Israeli military attacks, along with what he described as support from some regional countries, underscored the need to prevent the waterway from being used against Iran's security interests.

Baghaei said Iran would work with Oman on measures related to the management and security of the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran said it stopped implementing its commitments under a memorandum of understanding with the United States after Washington's actions, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei saying Tehran would only honor the agreement if the other side did the same.

"Iran remained committed to its obligations as long as the other side fulfilled its commitments," Baghaei said. "When the other side stopped implementing its commitments, we also said we would no longer implement ours."

Baghaei said an agreement retained its value only as long as both sides complied with their commitments, adding that otherwise it was "nothing more than a piece of paper."

Some Arab leaders are not Muslims despite claiming to be, an Iranian lawmaker said, accusing them of only pretending to pray to preserve their rule.

"Some Arab leaders claim to be Muslims, but in reality they are not. They merely go through the motions of prayer to keep their governments in power," Amir Hayat-Moghadam, a member of parliament's National Security Committee, told ILNA.

Hayat-Moghadam said he did not view many Arab leaders as Muslims, while distinguishing them from the people of their countries, whom he described as Muslims.

He said he hoped Arab populations would remove those leaders from power.

Hayat-Moghadam also warned that Iran would retaliate against Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Jordan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia if attacks on Iran were launched from those countries, saying states hosting US military bases would bear the consequences.

Iran rejected reports that ambiguity in its memorandum of understanding with the United States contributed to renewed hostilities, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei saying the text was clear.

"The text of the memorandum is completely clear," Baghaei said, adding that “Washington had no basis for violating the agreement.”

Baghaei dismissed suggestions that differing interpretations of the 14-point memorandum had caused it to break down, saying the United States had not cited disagreements over the text or its interpretation as the reason for resuming attacks on Iran.