WASHINGTON(National Times)- As US President Donald Trump singled out his allies who did not help him in the US-Israeli war against Iran, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran had the “necessary will” to end the ongoing war, but not without guarantees that the conflict would not be repeated.
In a statement posted on Truth Social, President Trump railed against the European countries, particularly the UK and France, for being unhelpful in the month-long war that has roiled global markets and led to the disruption of fuel supply via the Strait of Hormuz.
“All of those countries that can’t get jet fuel because of the Strait of Hormuz, like the United Kingdom, which refused to get involved in the decapitation of Iran, I have a suggestion for you: Number 1, buy from the U.S., we have plenty, and Number 2, build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
“You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us. The hard part is done. Go get your own oil!” He also criticised France for not letting planes carrying military supplies to Israel fly over French territory.
‘Next few days will be decisive’
Amid reports of negotiations, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said that the next few days in the war against Iran would be decisive and warned Tehran that the conflict would intensify if it did not make a deal, Reuters reported.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards hit back with a new threat, saying that they will target US companies in the region in retaliation for attacks on Iran from Wednesday, listing 18 groups including Microsoft, Google, Apple, Intel, IBM, Tesla and Boeing.
Iran earlier set ablaze a fully loaded oil tanker off Dubai, its latest attack on merchant vessels in the Gulf or in the Strait of Hormuz since the United States and Israel attacked on Feb 28.
Mr Hegseth, who said he visited US troops in the Middle East on Saturday, said Donald Trump was willing to make a deal, and talks were ongoing and gaining strength, but that the US was prepared to continue the war if Iran did not comply.
“We have more and more options, and they have less … in only one month we set the terms, the upcoming days will be decisive,” Hegseth said in Washington. “Iran knows that, and there’s almost nothing they can militarily do about it.”
Iran, however, appeared receptive to the idea of ending the war. According to AFP, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country had the “necessary will” to end the ongoing war with Israel and the United States, but was seeking guarantees that the conflict would not be repeated. “We possess the necessary will to end this conflict, provided that essential conditions are met — especially the guarantees required to prevent repetition of the aggression,” Mr Pezeshkian said in a phone conversation with the president of the European Council, according to a statement from his office.
Iran’s foreign minister also confirmed that messages were exchanged between the two foes. Abbas Araghchi told Qatar’s Al Jazeera that messages had been exchanged with the US either directly or through friends in the region. That did not mean Iran was in negotiations with Washington, he said. “I receive messages from Wittkov directly, as before, and this does not mean that we are in negotiations,” AJ quoted him as saying.
“There is no truth to the claim of negotiations with any party in Iran. All messages are conveyed through the foreign ministry or received by it, and there are communications between security agencies.”
The Israeli military said on Tuesday it completed a wave of strikes targeting 20 weapons manufacturing sites and a research and development site in Iran.
Iranian media said that airstrikes had put a desalination plant on Iran’s Qeshm island in the strategic Strait of Hormuz out of service, though the report did not specify when the attack took place, AFP reported.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also accused Israel of “unashamedly bombing” pharmaceutical companies in the country. “Their intentions are clear,” he said in a post on X. “What they’ve gotten wrong is that they’re not dealing with defenceless Palestinian civilians. Our powerful armed forces will severely punish aggressors.”
Areas near the World Health Organization’s Tehran office have been hit by strikes over the past two nights, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a social media post.
Meanwhile, Iran also continued to attack targets across Israel and the Gulf. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy claimed it struck a “covert location” in the UAE, reportedly housing 200 US personnel and officers, according to the Tasnim news agency.
Multiple explosions also rattled the Saudi capital Riyadh, according to an AFP journalist, the latest apparent barrage targeting the city as Iran carries out attacks across the Gulf region. Nine people were also wounded in an Iranian attack on Tel Aviv, Al Jazeera reported.
General killed
Separately, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard confirmed the killing of a brigadier general, who was sanctioned by the US in 2025 over an international network shipping oil to China and using profits to fund Tehran-backed regional proxies, in a US-Israeli airstrike, AFP reported.
Revolutionary Guard commander-in-chief Ahmad Vahidi issued a message of condolences for Jamshid Eshaghi, the head of the budget and financial affairs at Iran’s armed forces general staff. Vahidi, whose predecessor was killed at the start of the conflict, said Eshaghi had been killed along with several members of his family in a US-Israeli strike, without giving a date or further details.
