TEHRAN, Jul 20 : Iran today said that it remained in contact with Washington and the two continued to maintain diplomatic exchanges via mediators despite the war between the two of them only further intensifying of late.
"We have been informed by mediators, we have received messages - without going into details - but the main point is that the diplomatic apparatus has been active in recent days and ideas have been conveyed to us by certain mediators," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei told a press briefing in Tehran.
His comments came a day after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tehran had continued signalling its willingness to negotiate despite nearly two weeks of escalating strikes by both sides.
Rubio said Iran had communicated "directly and through multiple channels" that "they want to talk".
"The U.S. always remains open to a diplomatic solution and they continue to send signals that they want to talk, that they want to negotiate, but their behaviour is what we're responding to," he told reporters.
He further said that a return to diplomacy would be "a very positive development", but noted, "that's not where we are tonight, unfortunately."
Asked whether the memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran was still standing, Rubio said the agreement required the Strait of Hormuz to remain "free of tolls, free of attacks, free of all the things they're doing against these ships".
"You can't have an MoU that's alive if they're violating the terms of it," he said.
Rubio claimed that the US was only targeting Iranian military assets which were used to attack commercial shipping in the strategic waterway.
"The only reason why the U.S. is conducting strikes is against assets of Iran that are being used to attack global commercial shipping," he said.
"The Strait of Hormuz is an international waterway, and they continue to launch against ships in that international waterway. The United States is involved not just in protecting those ships but in targeting the places that they use to launch these missiles and drones.
"That's what you're seeing. That's what the objective of this mission is. Their behaviour has to change in order for ours to change."
So far, the US has carried out nine consecutive nights of strikes on Iranian targets.
Despite the continued diplomatic signalling, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian today declared that Tehran was engaged in a "full-scale war" with Washington, warning Iranians to prepare for the consequences of the conflict.
"The reality is that today the Islamic Republic of Iran is engaged in a full-scale war," Pezeshkian said in a statement issued by the presidency.
"We must be realistic and accept the natural consequences of this resistance," he added.
Pezeshkian's remarks came after Iran killed at least two US service members in a missile attack on an American air base in Jordan over the weekend. CENTCOM also confirmed that another American service member died in Iraq during the controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian drone. (UNI)
