Iran is preparing to shift to a \u201cfully offensive\u201d military posture after efforts to negotiate a permanent end to its war with the United States stalled, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Monday, raising fears of a wider escalation centred on the strategic Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n
The warning came after US President Donald Trump ruled out extending an interim ceasefire agreement between Washington and Tehran. The two sides had been expected to reach a final peace agreement by Monday under a memorandum of understanding signed in June.<\/p>\n
The senior Iranian official said Tehran was prepared to take \u201cdifficult decisions\u201d if diplomacy failed and warned that Iran could launch a \u201ctimely and precise\u201d military operation to break a US naval blockade.<\/p>\n
\u201cIranian entities must be prepared to escalate tensions in the Strait of Hormuz and wider region,\u201d the official told Reuters.<\/p>\n
The June 17 memorandum had given the US and Iran 60 days to negotiate a broader agreement covering Iran's nuclear programme and US sanctions.<\/p>\n
The agreement called for the \u201cimmediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts\u201d. However, the arrangement unravelled amid a dispute over control and navigation rights in the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n
Iran says a provision of the memorandum gives it the right to manage the strategic waterway, which it shares with Oman. Washington has rejected that interpretation.<\/p>\n
The disagreement has also disrupted commercial shipping through the strait, a vital route for global energy supplies. Before the war, about a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas shipments passed through the waterway.<\/p>\n
Iran has warned that any failure to resolve the dispute could further escalate military tensions and prevent the restoration of normal tanker traffic.<\/p>\n
Asked on Monday whether Washington was seeking to extend the interim agreement reached in June, Trump said no.<\/p>\n
Iran, meanwhile, has set a deadline of several weeks for the US to implement provisions of the previous agreement before Tehran considers further negotiations, according to the Iranian official.<\/p>\n
Mediators are expected to communicate the Iranian position to Washington and other regional governments.<\/p>\n
Iran is also separately negotiating with Oman over the management of the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran has said those discussions are close to an agreement, although progress has been slow.<\/p>\n
Trump has issued increasingly aggressive warnings over the waterway. According to the report, he told Fox News that if Oman obstructed US efforts, \u201cwe'll bomb\u201d the country.<\/p>\n
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei on Monday said Tehran already has laws governing its sovereign rights over the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and the Sea of Oman.<\/p>\n