Analysis: how should we interpret Pezeshkian’s statement?
Patrick Wintour
The announcement by Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian that Iran will no longer attack Gulf and neighbouring states if they are not attacking Iran appears on the surface a significant change in tactics, reflecting the overpowering diplomatic pressure Iran was under to change course, or risk uniting the whole of the Arab world against Iran. It would be an admission that Iran’s current military strategy is heading for diplomatic disaster.
But the precise implications of his announcement remains open to interpretation. An Iranian armed forces spokesperson seemed to qualify its meaning heavily by saying:
Strikes against the US and Israeli assets will continue. So far, we have targeted every base that was the origin of aggression against Iran and we remain committed to this matter. Countries that have not provided space and facilities to the United States and the Zionist regime have not been our target so far and will not be targeted in the future.
If the armed forces believe countries simply providing land, in terms of bases, remain legitimate targets, then effectively nothing has changed since there are US bases in almost every Gulf State. What Pezeshkian seemed to imply is that these countries will not be attacked if the US bases and airspace are not being used to attack Iran, an altogether different proposition.
Whether this reflects an internal disagreement, a reinterpretation of the decision taken by Pezeshkian and other members of Iran’s temporary executive council or simply a more hardline way of explaining the political leadership’s decision, time will tell. It is a test of where power lies in Iran in wartime.
But it was significant too that Pezeshkian chose to apologise and to argue Iran wanted to be on the right side of international law. Many lawyers claimed Iran’s attacks on US bases in the region could be justified as acts of self-defence, but the wider attacks on Gulf infrastructure and oil installations could not.
If Pezeshkian’s promise is translated into reality then Iran hopes the path to reunite the region and the focus can shift back to what it regards as the injustice of the US attacks in the midst of diplomacy.
The pressure to relent has been coming from all the Gulf states, but notably countries that have tried to be close to Iran, including Oman, Turkey and Qatar. Some of the phone conversations have been said to be seething.
Key events
Trump: US strikes destroyed 42 Iranian navy ships
US President Donald Trump is now speaking in Florida to leaders of Latin American countries at his golf resort in Miami.
He said US strikes on Iran have significantly damaged the country’s military capabilities, claiming American forces have destroyed 42 Iranian navy ships in three days.
He presented the miliary campaign against Iran as a major success. Looking at his defence secretary Pete Hegseth, he said: “Pete, you are fantastic. You’re doing a great job. I’m proud of you.”
Patrick Wintour
A total of 9,000 British nationals have returned from the United Arab Emirates, and the UK is considering chartering a further plane from Dubai if demand exists to fly British nationals home. A flight from Doha carrying 260 British nationals is under way and the UK has chartered a plane from Muscat Oman this afternoon to take British nationals home
The need for a UK government chartered flight out of Dubai will depend on the number of commercial flights that are available. The airport was temporarily closed following attacks on Saturday morning.
Pezeshkian reiterates Iran ‘not attacking friendly neighbours’
Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian has released new statement in a series of social media posts, where he reiterated that Tehran has “not attacked our friendly and neighbouring countries, but rather targeted American military bases, installations, and facilities in the region”.
It follows an earlier pre-recorded message in which he apologised to neighbouring Gulf states and said Iran’s interim leadership council had approved stopping attacks or missile strikes against them, unless an attack against Iran originated from those countries.
In the social media posts, he said:
The Islamic Republic of Iran has always emphasised the preservation and continuation of friendly relations with the governments of the region based on good neighbourliness and mutual respect for national sovereignty and territorial integrity. This does not negate Iran’s inherent right to defend itself against military aggression by the United States and the Zionist regime.
We stand and resist to the death to defend our country.
He continued:
We have not attacked our friendly and neighbouring countries, but rather targeted American military bases, installations, and facilities in the region.
UK aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales on advanced preparedness, says MoD
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) said HMS Prince of Wales, one of Britain’s two flagship aircraft carriers, has been placed on advanced preparedness ahead of possible deployment to the Middle East.
A spokesperson said:
We have been bolstering our UK military presence in the Middle East since January, and we have already deployed capabilities to protect British people and our allies in the region, including Typhoons, F-35 jets, air defence systems and an extra 400 personnel into Cyprus.
Since the strikes began, we’ve had British jets in the sky shooting down drones and have sent additional assets to the region to further reinforce our air defences, including more Typhoons and Wildcat helicopters with drone busting missiles.
HMS Prince of Wales has always been on very high readiness and we are increasing the preparedness of the carrier, reducing the time it would take to set sail for any deployment.
The AFP news agency reported that Turkey is considering the possibility of sending F-16 fighter jets to breakaway northern Cyprus as a security measure.
A Turkish defence ministry source told the news agency that “phased planning is being carried out to ensure the security” of the Turkish republic of northern Cyprus, a territory which is only recognised by Ankara.
“The deployment of F-16 aircraft to the island is among the options being considered,” the source said.
It comes after an attack last weekend on the UK’s RAF Akrotiri base in Cyprus, suspected to have been launched by Hezbollah in Lebanon. The strike caused minimal damage and did not result in casualties.
Patrick Wintour
Western officials were seeking to interpret Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian’s offer and on what authority he was speaking, but said it was best to be cautious in suggesting Iran was looking for an off ramp.
One official said: “We do not know definitely what is driving the Iranian president’s remarks. It is one data point and it is no more than that. We can infer that Iranian capability is degraded. There is no reason to doubt the briefing from centcom of a reduced number of attacks recently.”
The official said the Iranian offer to states in the region was implicitly conditional, but added it was not clear if this meant attacks could stop if countries did not allow US bases to be used to attack Iran or whether the very presence of a US base was sufficient reason to attack.
Kuwait says it has implemented a precautionary reduction in crude oil production and refining following the ongoing attacks by Iran against Kuwait and “Iranian threats to safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz.”
Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, the state oil company, said the move was part of its “risk management and business continuity strategy”.
Harry Taylor
In the UK, Labour has accused Kemi Badenoch of scoring “cheap political points” after the Conservative party leader said Keir Starmer was “too scared” to join strikes on Iran.
Al Carns, the defence minister, said “serious politics” was required in response to Badenoch’s speech at the party’s spring conference where she criticised the prime minister’s stance on the US-Israel strikes on Iran a week ago.
Badenoch said: “At a time when Britain needs strong and decisive leadership, we have a prime minister who is too afraid of making the wrong decision, too afraid to make any decision at all.
“Last week’s byelection has spooked the Labour party. They watched the Greens campaigning on sectarian voting lines. A tactic Labour used for many years is now being turned against them. And now Keir Starmer is too scared to make foreign interventions for fear of upsetting a tiny section of that electorate.”
In response, Carns, a former Royal Marine, said: “Trying to score cheap political points off the back of a serious security situation is deeply irresponsible. This situation is above politics and requires calm collective decision making – not hyperbole and soundbites.”
Turkey is considering the deployment of F-16 aircraft to Cyprus, a Turkish defence ministry source has told Reuters.
The person said such a move was one of the steps being considered amid the phased planning underway to ensure the security of the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state in the north of the island, as conflict spreads in the region.
Aaron Glantz
For many US veterans of post-9/11 wars, the strikes on Iran bring troubling echoes of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. My colleague Aaron Glantz has spoken to some of them:
Nearly two decades after his second tour, Nathan Wendland is still troubled by his experiences in Iraq.
Like 700,000 other Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, the 46-year-old former US army staff sergeant receives compensation for post-traumatic stress disorder. Last January, Wendland checked himself into a psychiatric emergency room because he was worried he would kill himself. He was on the mend, but then Donald Trump ordered a sustained campaign of airstrikes on Iran. All those memories came flooding back.
“This war brings triggers into the news cycle every hour,” the navy veteran said. “I cannot focus on my daily life.
“We’ve put young men and women and support staff in bases all over the world at risk for no reason.”
VanDiver said the irony was that many veterans voted for Trump specifically because he promised to keep the US out of wars. “Too many of our generation and friends died fighting these illegal wars that he said he wasn’t going to get us back into,” he said.
Reuters is reporting that the Iranian revolutionary guards say they hit a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker in the strait of Hormuz.
The statement first came via Iranian state media. We’ll bring you more when we get it…