Iran rejects temporary ceasefire until Strait of Hormuz demands met

TEHRAN: Iran will not accept a temporary ceasefire and will continue its current course until its demands regarding the Strait of Hormuz are met, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Friday.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) foreign ministers’ meeting in Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyzstan, Araghchi said Iran would not discuss a temporary truce “unless our demands regarding the Strait of Hormuz are fulfilled,” according to Iranian media.

He said consultations with Russia and China were ongoing, adding that he held detailed talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the meeting.

Araghchi also said Pakistan had conveyed proposals as a mediator but argued that Tehran’s dispute with Washington was “not about mediation but about the US approach.”

He reiterated that Iran would not yield to “pressure, threats or bullying” and would continue pursuing what he described as the country’s principles, including protecting the Iranian people and Iran’s interests in the Strait of Hormuz.

“As long as the legitimate goals and demands of the Iranian people are not achieved, it is natural that we will continue our course,” he said.

He also said many SCO foreign ministers had praised Iran’s response to the US and Israel, arguing that Tehran had demonstrated it was possible to stand up to major powers.

Earlier, speaking at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Council of Foreign Ministers Meeting in Kyrgyzstan, Araghchi said Iran reserved the right to retaliate against any acts of aggression, according to Mehr news agency.

He stated that Iran has shown it is not an initiator of any war and that regional security depended on not using double standards.

The minister said that the origin of any act of aggression against Iran amounted to a legitimate target for the Iranian armed forces, underlining that Iran reserved the right to retaliate against any acts of aggression against it.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran, in accordance with international law, reserves its right to take all necessary measures within the framework of legitimate defence and will consider the source of any aggression against the Iranian nation as a legitimate target for defensive actions by its Armed Forces,” he said.

Araghchi said Iran had exercised its inherent right to self-defence under Article 51 of the UN Charter following military aggression by the United States and the Israeli regime, adding that Tehran has not been the initiator of any war, as per Mehr.

The Iranian foreign minister condemned the US and the Zionist regime for launching repeated attacks against Iran, saying those actions have targeted not only Iran’s national security but also principles of the international legal order.

Israel 'the number one enemy of all Islamic countries': Ghalibaf

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Israel was “the number one enemy of all Islamic countries”, state-run IRNA reports.

He made the remarks in a meeting with Ali Falih Kadhim al-Zaidi, the prime minister of Iraq, in Tehran on Friday.

Ghalibaf added that cooperation between Iran and Iraq to preserve the unity of Islamic nations against the Zionist regime was “certainly effective”.

IRGC says they destroyed US Ammunition Depot in Kuwait

The IRGC destroyed a large US ammunition depot and several accommodation facilities at Ali Al-Salem Air Base in Kuwait, saying the attack inflicted casualties and "heavy damage" on American forces, according to Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency.

IRGC claims it hit US air base, 3 US army housing units in Kuwait

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Friday that it launched a drone attack on the US-used Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait that left “a large number” of US personnel dead or injured, following earlier attacks on three camps housing US forces in the country.

In a statement, the IRGC said advanced “super-heavy” attack drones targeted a large ammunition depot, triggering successive explosions that “completely destroyed” the facility.

It claimed that the attack also destroyed six personnel accommodation hangars and extensively damaged three others, leaving “a large number” of US personnel dead or injured.

The Kuwaiti and US sides did not immediately comment on the attack or report casualties or damage.

The Iranian army said earlier that it launched drone attacks on three sites housing US forces in Kuwait, reported the Iranian semi-official Tasnim News Agency.

In a statement, the army said “Arash” attack drones targeted US military equipment warehouses at Camp Udairi, as well as US troop positions at the Doha and Arifjan camps.

The army said it would continue intensive drone and missile operations, warning that “any reckless adventurism or opening of a new front” would amount to repeating US “strategic mistakes.”

Oman calls for Hormuz to remain open

Oman called for the Strait of Hormuz to remain open and free from any impediments to navigation, as Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr addressed a ministerial meeting in Manila marking the 50th anniversary of ASEAN’s Treaty of Amity and Cooperation.

“Vital waterways, including the Strait of Hormuz, must remain open and accessible for navigation, free from any measures that would impede freedom of navigation and international trade flows,” the minister said in a post on X by the Omani Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He added that maintaining open and safe waterways required responsible cooperation from coastal states and all beneficiaries of maritime routes, citing existing cooperation in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore as a model that enhances trust and establishes collective responsibility.

UN urges evacuation of 6,000 sailors stranded in Hormuz Strait

UN rights chief Volker Turk has urged countries involved in the US-Israel war on Iran to help evacuate and repatriate some 6,000 sailors stranded in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Al Jazeera.

“Parties to the conflict should urgently work to facilitate safe passage for stranded seafarers to safely evacuate and disembark, as well as ensure the delivery of critical supplies,” his spokesperson Shabia Mantoo told reporters in Geneva.

Iran Guards say they targeted Amazon data centre in Bahrain

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Friday that they targeted a data centre in Bahrain belonging to US tech giant Amazon, state media reported.

The forces "targeted and destroyed the intelligence data centre building of the American company Amazon, which plays a major role in completing information for the American child-killing army", they said in a statement aired by state TV.

Neither Amazon nor Bahraini authorities have commented so far on Iran's claims.

The Guards -- the ideological arm of the military -- had also said on Wednesday that they targeted the data centre.

Tehran maintains that any facility or base in the Middle East that the US military uses for strikes on Iran is considered a legitimate target for retaliatory attacks.

US attack targets Revolutionary Guards naval headquarters in northern Iran

A US attack targeted an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy headquarters in Zibakenar, northern Iran, on Friday, the semi-official Fars News Agency reported.

The Gilan provincial government said the Hazrat Seyyed al-Shohada headquarters in the coastal town was struck in the attack.

No casualties have been reported so far, according to preliminary assessments, it added.

Iranian officials report US air attack on city of Piranshahr

Iran’s West Azerbaijan crisis management organisation said a site in the city of Piranshahr, near the border with Iraq, was struck in a US air attack at about 9am (10:30 PKT), according to the semi-official Fars News Agency as per Al Jazeera's reporting.

Several vehicles were damaged in the attack on Friday, the organisation said, adding that no figures were yet available for the number of people killed or wounded.

Recent US strikes have left 55 dead: Iranian health ministry

The number of wounded from recent US military strikes in Iran climbed to 645, with 55 confirmed dead, a spokesperson for Iran’s Ministry of Health told the country’s Fars news agency on Friday, according to Al Jazeera.

The southwestern province of Khuzestan recorded the highest number of casualties, followed by the southern provinces of Hormozgan and Sistan-Baluchestan, the spokesperson said. Those three provinces also accounted for the majority of fatalities.

Of the total injured, 586 have been discharged following treatment, while several others received outpatient care. Eight patients remain hospitalised, with some requiring further surgical procedures, the official added.