US piles pressure on Iran while Tehran says no decision on talks

Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, head of Iran’s judiciary, said any force seeking to challenge Tehran in the Strait of Hormuz would be destroyed, responding to President Donald Trump’s remarks about declaring the strategic waterway US territory.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran is the owner and ruler of this important global waterway,” Mohseni-Ejei wrote, according to the judiciary-affiliated Mizan news agency, adding that any “aggressor” or military adventurer in the strait would be defeated.

He also argued that Iran’s ownership of the Strait of Hormuz was established under international law and principles of national sovereignty.

Mohseni-Ejei said US warships had already failed to establish control over the waterway and added that Washington would not achieve through statements or social media what it had failed to accomplish militarily.

A bulk carrier was struck by an unknown projectile in the Strait of Hormuz, the UK Maritime Trade Operations agency said in a verified warning issued Saturday.

The projectile hit the vessel’s hull, UKMTO said. The crew was reported safe, while no assessment of damage had yet been provided.

UKMTO advised vessels transiting the area to exercise caution and report suspicious activity.

Iran’s communications minister said on Saturday that more than 500 telecommunications sites were hit during the war, with some facilities struck again after being repaired and returned to service.

Sattar Hashemi said the government and telecom operators worked to keep phone, messaging and other communications functioning despite the attacks, adding that most people experienced relatively limited disruption.

He said adversaries also sought to cut communications between mainland Iran and the country’s islands in the Persian Gulf. Connections were interrupted briefly at one point but were quickly restored, he said.

Hashemi added that infrastructure used for research and development in Iran’s aerospace sector was also hit, though space-industry services continued operating. He said the ministry also worked with state broadcaster IRIB to keep its broadcasts on air.

Ahmad Vahidi, commander-in-chief of the IRGC, told Iran’s armed forces that their performance during six months of war had demonstrated that “Islam can be made to rule the world.”

In a message published on Saturday, Vahidi praised IRGC, army, police and Basij forces, saying they had “brought the most heavily armed army in the history of the world to its knees.”

He compared their operations to the early Islamic battles of Badr and Khaybar and said that under Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei’s command, Iranian forces had “opened the gates of uprising for the oppressed of the world.”

Vahidi also said their campaign had revived hopes of defeating dominant global powers and predicted that the world would soon be more prepared for what he described in religious terms as the advent of ultimate Islamic rule.

Trump posted AI-generated images on Truth Social portraying himself aboard an Iranian tanker under the caption “This is our tanker now.”

The first image showed Trump with a US flag and two American service members on the deck, with an Islamic Republic flag depicted underfoot. Two men, one wearing a black turban and another a keffiyeh, were shown falling from the vessel.

Minutes later, Trump posted a similar AI-generated image in which the two falling figures had been removed.

Satellite images show a major oil slick off Iran’s Qeshm Island, with oil also detected near Sirri Island, raising concerns over the environmental impacts, Reuters reported on Friday.

President Donald Trump was joking when he said the United States would declare the Strait of Hormuz US territory after the war with Iran, a senior White House official said on Friday, adding that Trump had not discussed such a move with his advisers, according to Wall Street Journal reporter Brian Schwartz.

“Per a senior White House official- President Trump has not met with his advisers about declaring the Strait of Hormuz a U.S. territory post the war and was joking during his speech today in New York. My observation while I watched the speech in person- he did chuckle after he said it but then he seemed to say “it’s true,” Schwartz posted on X.

Pentagon spokesperson Kingsley Wilson on Friday disputed reports about conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, saying a small number of sailors received mental health treatment with no loss of life and that no meals were missed during the carrier’s extended deployment.

“The Fake News media wants you to ignore the facts about the USS Lincoln: * A small number of mental health cases were treated with NO loss of life. * Meal plans were adjusted when fresh resupply was unavailable, without a SINGLE meal being missed,” Wilson posted on X.

“Calls home were limited when the operational threat was too high. Our Sailors on the USS Lincoln are victors, not victims! Cheap shots by the media to misrepresent their historic mission are disgraceful,” she added.

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The USS Abraham Lincoln will return home soon as part of a planned rotation after 266 days deployed, including 200 days in a combat zone, Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao said on Friday, pushing back against reports portraying the carrier’s crew as victims of its extended mission.

Cao said the carrier completed more than 10,000 sorties and dropped 1.5 million pounds of ordnance during the deployment, while a small number of mental health cases had been treated with no loss of life.

“The Lincoln was extended because the mission demanded it,” Cao said in a statement posted on X, adding that the crew had been pushed to its limits but had “never broken.”

US Navy has said it has not observed an increase in suicidal ideation among the crew, while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described reports about conditions aboard the ship as “completely misrepresented.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Friday that no decision had been made to resume negotiations with the United States, semi-official ISNA reported.

He said Qatar and Pakistan were continuing to exchange messages and remain in contact with Tehran, but added that this “does not mean negotiations.”

Araghchi said the Islamabad memorandum of understanding referred to an “end to the war,” not a ceasefire, and that there was therefore no 60-day truce requiring an extension.

He also said previous diplomatic channels were no longer effective and that Iran was working on a temporary path that could later develop into a final framework.