US extends Iran attacks to 9th night

The United States said it completed its ninth consecutive night of strikes against Iran on Sunday, prompting calls for de-escalation as worries grow over further instability in the Middle East.

Tensions are far from cooling off as Tehran has rejected Washington's claims and justifications for the renewed military offensive, which is causing severe harm to civilians and damaging vital infrastructure.

Kazem Gharibabadi, Iranian deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, lashed out at a US attack on the Darkhovin power plant project site in Iran.

"The US attack on the underconstruction facilities of the power plant is a dangerous assault on Iran's peaceful infrastructure and fully implicates the US government in the consequences stemming from heightened insecurity and instability," he said on X.

"Iran, while issuing a resolute condemnation of this aggression, will take appropriate measures to defend its national interests and security," he added.

At a weekly news briefing on Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said that no political or military claim justifies the suffering of people and destruction of civilian infrastructure in the country, Mehr News Agency reported, after the US struck several Iranian military assets overnight.

Iran reported that one person was killed and several others wounded after the US military attacked an area in northwestern Iran. Majid Farshi, director-general of crisis management in Iran's East Azerbaijan Province, said the strike in the early hours targeted a military site southwest of Tabriz, Al Jazeera reported.

Baghaei condemned the US attacks on civilian infrastructures, medical and healthcare treatment centers, bridges and installations that are critical for people's wellbeing and livelihoods.

Iran is not a collection of remote and faraway islands that can be wounded in one part and expected to remain calm in the other, he said.

"If Hormozgan (Province) is wounded, Mazandaran will suffer; if Chabahar is targeted, Tehran's heart will beat; and if a child in Ahvaz is frightened by the sound of an explosion, no Iranian in this land will sleep peacefully," he said.

"Iran is one body, and every wound on every corner of it is a wound on this entire body."

Despite this escalating turn of events, Baghaei said diplomatic efforts are continuing alongside the response of Iranian forces to any aggression. He confirmed Iran had received proposals from several mediators aimed at reducing tensions with Washington.

US President Donald Trump had earlier said that the latest "very hard" military strikes on Iran were in honor of the US service members killed in recent days.

Despite the recent attacks, Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted that the US is "always open to diplomacy".

Speaking to reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Sunday, Rubio pinned the blame on Iran for its alleged noncompliance with the memorandum of understanding the two sides signed last month. He did not directly answer whether the MoU was "dead" or whether the two countries had returned to full-scale war.

"Well, they're not complying with it. I mean, the straits are supposed to be open — free of tolls, free of attacks, free of all the things they're doing against these ships," Rubio said. "You can't have an MoU that's alive if they're violating the terms of it."

The US Central Command said it had successfully completed the ninth consecutive evening of strikes against Iran on Sunday, at 10 pm Eastern Time.

"CENTCOM assets targeted Iranian military command centers, air defense and coastal surveillance sites, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and communications networks to further diminish Iran's ability to attack commercial vessels and civilian mariners transiting the Strait of Hormuz," it said.

Vessel on fire

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations reported that a vessel was on fire in the Strait of Hormuz after being hit by a projectile. The attack was said to have occurred 15 kilometers northwest of Kumzar, Oman.

"The crew safely abandoned the vessel and have been recovered by a tug boat," the organization said, adding that vessels are advised to transit with caution and report any suspicious activity to it while authorities investigate.

Meanwhile, Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Fahmy, who assumed office on July 1, warned of a renewed cycle of violence amid the ongoing escalation in the region.

In a statement published on Sunday, Fahmy appealed to the US and Iran to work immediately to de-escalate the situation, especially as the situation was nearing a point of no return and sliding into further mutual destruction and an economic decline in the region and the world.

Fahmy also called for calm and the restoration of mutual commitment to the MoU, including adherence to the freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz as guaranteed by international law and in accordance with relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions, and for refraining from using it as a tool for pressure or economic blackmail.

Contact the writers at jan@chinadailyapac.com