ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Indirect diplomatic contacts between Iran and the United States have resumed in recent days through "certain mediators," Tehran's foreign ministry said Monday, even as US forces carried out a ninth consecutive night of strikes against Iran and Iran's military continued to claim attacks on alleged American assets in the region.
"We have been informed by mediators, we have received messages [from the American side]," Iranian foreign ministry Spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told reporters at a weekly briefing, adding that "the diplomatic apparatus has been active in recent days and ideas have been conveyed to us by certain mediators."
Baghaei said mediators were actively working to "prevent further escalation," pointing to proposals that have been conveyed to Tehran in that regard.
The remarks coincide with media reports that Qatar had proposed a 10-day ceasefire between Iran and the US during Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi's visit to Doha on Wednesday, when he traveled to pay tribute to Qatar's former Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani.
They also come shortly after US Central Command (CENTCOM) said Monday that its forces had "successfully completed the ninth consecutive night of strikes against Iran" on Sunday.
"CENTCOM assets targeted Iranian military command centers, air defense and coastal surveillance sites, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and communications networks," the Command said, noting that the strikes were ordered by US President Donald Trump in his capacity as commander-in-chief "to further diminish Iran's ability to attack commercial vessels and civilian mariners transiting the Strait of Hormuz," and to hold Tehran "accountable."
Meanwhile, Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said Monday they carried out drone strikes against US military facilities in Kuwait.
Iranian forces "completely destroyed a US early-warning radar system in a drone strike," the IRGC said in a statement, claiming to have hit "an equipment and aircraft parts warehouse and an MQ-9 drone hangar at Ali al-Salem Air Base, setting several drones on fire."
The US and Iran have been locked in continuous strikes and counterstrikes for nearly two weeks.
The ongoing escalation comes weeks after Iran and the US signed the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding in mid-June, which established a halt to military operations on all fronts and reopened the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping.
Washington and Tehran also committed to holding talks toward a comprehensive settlement within 60 days of signing, with room to extend by mutual consent.
However, Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei on Saturday accused Washington of violating the Islamabad understanding, which he claimed proves the “invalidity” of the US president’s signature and warned that Iran would teach “unforgettable lessons” for its “American enemy.”
