IRAN will shift to a “fully offensive” military posture if diplomatic efforts to secure a permanent end to its war with the United States stall, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Monday, as Washington ruled out extending an interim ceasefire agreement.
The warning raises the prospect of renewed military escalation around the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global energy chokepoint, after efforts towards a broader peace agreement and the resumption of oil tanker traffic through the strategic waterway lost momentum.
“Iranian entities must be prepared to escalate tensions in the Strait of Hormuz and wider region, as Iran will be ready to make decisions and take action on difficult decisions,” Reuters cited the Iranian official saying on Tuesday, adding that Tehran would launch a “timely and precise” military attack to break the US naval blockade if diplomacy failed.
A memorandum of understanding signed by Iran and the United States on June 17 had given both sides 60 days to negotiate a final agreement covering Iran’s nuclear programme and US sanctions.
The agreement declared the “immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts”, but quickly unravelled over a dispute concerning control of the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas flowed before the war.
Asked on Monday whether Washington was seeking to extend the June interim agreement, US President Donald Trump said it was not.
The diplomatic impasse comes as reports indicate that the Trump administration has opened back-channel discussions with Iran, including contacts involving the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which has gained greater influence during the conflict.
Axios, citing two sources familiar with the matter, reported that former US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard spoke with an Iraqi Kurdish leader with close ties to the IRGC, who subsequently conveyed a US message to IRGC commander General Ahmad Vahidi.
Fox News later reported that Trump confirmed the discussions.
The Trump administration was concerned about whether Iranian negotiators taking part in formal talks could speak on behalf of the IRGC, Axios reported. Vahidi, however, said he was aligned with Iran’s negotiators.
“I can't go into the details of it, but I will say that the conversations between the U.S. government and different areas of the Iranian government at all areas is probably more robust than it's maybe ever been,” Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and special envoy, said in a separate Fox News interview on Monday.
The Strait of Hormuz remains the central obstacle to a broader settlement.
Iran has argued that the June memorandum gives it the right to manage the waterway, which it shares with US ally Oman, while Washington has rejected that interpretation.
Hostilities resumed after Iran began firing on vessels it said were attempting to transit the strait using an unapproved route, prompting Trump to declare the agreement “over” on July 7.
The Iranian official said Washington must fulfil all provisions of the memorandum within a few weeks before Tehran would agree to further negotiations.
Iran has separately been negotiating with Oman over arrangements for managing the strait and says the two sides are close to an agreement.
Trump responded by issuing a stark warning to the Gulf state, a longstanding US security partner.
“If Oman gets in the way, we'll bomb the shit out of them,” Trump told Fox News.
The escalating tensions come as Iran faces mounting economic pressure after months of war, with damaged infrastructure, disrupted trade, lost production and rising reconstruction costs adding to existing problems including high inflation, a weakening currency, energy shortages and sanctions.
Iranian leaders are also concerned that further economic punishment could deepen public hardship, reignite unrest and further weaken the Islamic Republic’s legitimacy, according to three Iranian officials.
Thousands of people have been killed in the conflict, mainly in Iran and Lebanon, while Iranian attacks have targeted US military bases and infrastructure in Oman, Jordan, Kuwait, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
Trump has also warned Americans to prepare for persistently high fuel prices as the conflict continues. - August 18, 2026
