Former US ambassador-at-large for counterterrorism Nathan Sales has claimed that Iran was \u201ccaught red-handed\u201d allegedly attempting to lay mines in the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, accusing Tehran of repeatedly violating a fragile ceasefire in the region.<\/p>\n
Speaking to Fox News, Sales alleged that Iran had breached the truce since its inception and said recent US military strikes were launched in response to what Washington viewed as direct threats from Tehran. \u201cIf there\u2019s anybody who knows something about violating the ceasefire, it\u2019s the Iranian regime,\u201d Sales said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve been violating it since day one, and the reason the United States took strikes yesterday is that we caught the Iranians red-handed,\u201d he added. Sales further alleged that Iranian forces were \u201ctrying to lay mines to block the Strait of Hormuz\u201d and were threatening US troops in the region. \u201cSo, this was entirely in self-defence. If the Iranians are concerned about the fragility of the cease-fire, they can take a good look in the mirror,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
According to an AP report, the US military described May 25 strikes in southern Iran as \u201cdefensive\u201d in nature. The report said the targets included missile launch sites and minelaying boats, while Washington insisted it had acted with \u201crestraint\u201d despite heightened tensions during the ceasefire. The strikes marked another escalation in the conflict, even as negotiations reportedly continued toward a broader agreement to end hostilities and reopen regional trade routes.<\/p>\n
Iran, however, sharply criticised the attacks and accused Washington of acting in \u201cbad faith and unreliability\u201d, AP reported. Tehran\u2019s foreign ministry described the strikes as a violation of the ceasefire and warned the United States it would bear responsibility for \u201call consequences\u201d. \u201cThe Islamic Republic of Iran will leave no act of aggression unanswered,\u201d the Iranian foreign ministry said in a statement cited by AP.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former US ambassador-at-large for counterterrorism Nathan Sales has claimed that Iran was \u201ccaught red-handed\u201d allegedly attempting to lay…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":132879,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[28],"tags":[7229,44345,44128,44352,26822,44355,6940,34611,44124,44356,4015,3748,159,105,22239,102,6448,1743,34,143,816,13061,5715,35901,44343,44346,18783,44342,7395,10115,39,5627,44344,1538,44351,44354,35895,7770,101,44357,44348,69,44350,27684,44353,10073,44349,44347,37526,18658,1705],"class_list":["post-132878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-strait-of-hormuz","tag-aggression","tag-ap-report","tag-bad-faith","tag-ceasefire-fragility","tag-ceasefire-violation","tag-combat-escalation","tag-counterterrorism","tag-defensive-operation","tag-defensive-strikes","tag-diplomatic-breakdown","tag-escalation","tag-foreign-ministry","tag-foreign-policy","tag-fox-news","tag-geopolitical-tension","tag-hormuz","tag-hostilities","tag-international-relations","tag-iran","tag-maritime-security","tag-middle-east-conflict","tag-military-confrontation","tag-military-escalation","tag-military-response","tag-minelaying","tag-minelaying-boats","tag-missile-launch-sites","tag-nathan-sales","tag-naval-mines","tag-naval-operations","tag-persian-gulf","tag-regional-stability","tag-regional-truce","tag-retaliation","tag-retaliatory-warning","tag-security-crisis","tag-self-defense","tag-shipping-lanes","tag-strait-of-hormuz","tag-strategic-confrontation","tag-strategic-waterways","tag-tehran","tag-threat-response","tag-trade-disruption","tag-trade-route-security","tag-trade-routes","tag-truce-breach","tag-unreliability","tag-us-ambassador","tag-us-military-strikes","tag-washington"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132878","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132878"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132878\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132879"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}