Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday (July 20) said that intermediaries have shared messages with Tehran over recent days, but that responsibility for expansion of the war 'rests solely for the United States.'

U.S. forces hit Iran for a ninth consecutive day on Monday as concerns grew over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz after Iran said two oil tankers had exploded and been immobilised.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Monday they had targeted U.S. aircraft at Jordan's Aqaba airport with ballistic missiles, as well as U.S. military assets and equipment at Kuwait's Al-Adiri camp and Ali Al Salem Air Base, and in Syria.

Sirens sounded in Bahrain on Monday morning, the country's interior ministry said, while the Kuwaiti army said it was intercepting hostile drones in an Iranian attack.

The strikes are part of an escalating cycle of attacks between the U.S. and Iran after an interim ceasefire agreement signed a month ago unravelled, deepening a struggle for control over the Strait of Hormuz that has disrupted energy supplies and stoked fears of global inflation.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

Iran's Baghaei says intermediaries have shared messages with Tehran over recent days

VIDEO SHOWS: NEWS CONFERENCE BY IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON ESMAEIL BAGHAEI

RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT

SHOWS: TEHRAN, IRAN (JULY 20, 2026) (IRINN - No use Iran. No Use BBC Persian. No use VOA Persian. No use Manoto. No use Iran International. No use Radio Farda. No use Israel)

1. (SOUNDBITE) (Farsi) IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON, ESMAEIL BAGHAEI, SAYING:

“This year's World Cup was perhaps the most political sporting event in the world, and this match (the World Cup final) is one of the most political, perhaps the most political.”

2. WHITE FLASH

3. (SOUNDBITE) (Farsi) IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON, ESMAEIL BAGHAEI, SAYING:

“There is no doubt that this brutal act in Minab was carried out deliberately by the United States. They know it very well themselves.”

4. WHITE FLASH

5. (SOUNDBITE) (Farsi) IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON, ESMAEIL BAGHAEI, SAYING:

“Proposals have been put forward by mediators, they have been conveyed to us, and we have received them. But for now, allow me not to go into the details. What I can confirm is that, in recent days, the diplomatic apparatus has remained active and that ideas have indeed been conveyed to us by several mediators.”

6. WHITE FLASH

7. (SOUNDBITE) (Farsi) IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON, ESMAEIL BAGHAEI, SAYING:

“When the United States speaks of diplomacy, what it means is coercion, intimidation, threats and sanctions. As long as it remains in that framework and seeks to impose its demands on the Iranian nation, our response will, in turn, be to defend Iran's dignity and national sovereignty.”

8. WHITE FLASH

9. (SOUNDBITE) (Farsi) IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON, ESMAEIL BAGHAEI, SAYING:

“We do not believe there is an air embargo on Yemen. Fundamentally, we do not think such an interpretation of the U.N. Security Council resolutions is correct.”

10. WHITE FLASH

11. (SOUNDBITE) (Farsi) IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON, ESMAEIL BAGHAEI, SAYING (On the possibility of Iran withdrawing from the Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) and shifting its nuclear programme from peaceful to military):

“On every issue related to Iran's national security and its foreign relations and foreign policy, we continuously conduct reviews and weigh the costs and benefits. For now, however, we remain a member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and in this regard we are fully aware of both our obligations and our expectations, which we continue to state clearly.”

12. WHITE FLASH

13. (SOUNDBITE) (Farsi) IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON, ESMAEIL BAGHAEI, SAYING:

“Responsibility for any expansion of the war rests solely with the United States. By insisting on using the territory of regional countries, violating their sovereignty and infringing upon it, the United States is continuing its attacks against Iran. We have repeatedly stressed, and stress again, that we have no hostility or enmity towards any country in the region.”

14. WHITE FLASH

15. (SOUNDBITE) (Farsi) IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON, ESMAEIL BAGHAEI, SAYING:

“No American prisoner matching the description given by the U.S. president has been released from Iranian prisons. The individual he referred to was neither a prisoner nor accused of espionage.”