The U.S. and Iran Have No Plans to Resume Peace Talks — Bloomberg

The U.S. and Iran are not currently showing any willingness to resume peace talks. Amid an escalation of mutual attacks, hostilities between the two countries have been ongoing for a second week.

Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni visited Pakistan, which, along with Qatar, is acting as the main mediator in this conflict; however, there were no signs that his meetings were productive.

“There are no negotiations—only an exchange of messages is possible. Our new message is that the enemy has violated the memorandum and must comply with it,” a representative of the Iranian ministry stated after the visit.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened Iran with the destruction of bridges and power plants in response to attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

In response, the semi-official Iranian news agency Tasnim, citing a military source, reported that if the U.S. strikes bridges or power plants, “Iran will strike infrastructure and bridges in the region, including energy facilities in which the U.S. has interests.”

According to Iranian media, the U.S. expanded the scope of its airstrikes against Iran overnight: U.S. forces struck a military facility near the northwestern city of Tabriz. This is believed to be the first strike on this area since hostilities between the opposing sides escalated two weeks ago.

According to local media reports, early Wednesday morning, the Iranian government activated air defense systems in the capital, Tehran, adding that the U.S. had struck the cities of Abdanan and Chovar in the west of the country, near the border with Iraq.

The U.S. says it will intensify its bombing campaign until Iran agrees to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and cease attacks on oil tankers and other vessels passing through this vital waterway.

So far, Iran is not backing down. Tehran insists on maintaining control over shipping through the strait, and this issue is hindering progress on other contentious topics, including Iran’s nuclear program.

This is reported in a Bloomberg article.

The Trump administration is asking Congress for an additional $87.6 billion for the war in Iran.

Iran announced a strike on U.S. surveillance systems in Oman.

The IRGC announced a strike on a U.S. base in Syria.