TEHRAN/CAIRO – Iran's top security official Mohsen Rezaei warned Saturday that any country participating in the US economic war against Iran will be considered an "enemy" by Tehran.
Rezaei, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, made the remarks in an interview with state-run IRIB TV.
He said Iran would first negotiate with such countries and ask them to stay out of the conflict, but warned that if they refuse, Tehran will strike their interests, and that if surrounding countries choose to join the US siege, Iran "will not let even a single drop of oil be exported from the Strait of Hormuz."
He noted that Iran has learned how to bypass US sanctions and continue oil sales over the years.
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Rezaei also repeated that the Hormuz Strait will remain closed unless the United States fulfills its commitments under the Iran-US peace memorandum of understanding signed in June, adding that Washington must act first this time.
US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the United States would launch "the most crushing economic operation ever" against Iran, describing it as an "economic warfare and isolation on an unprecedented scale."
Iran says received messages from neighbors on new security arrangements
Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said on Saturday that Iran has received "numerous" messages from neighboring countries about "shaping new security arrangements and economic cooperation" in the region.
In a post on social media platform X, Qalibaf said the United States "put the security of every single one of its allies at such risk through bullying and pure disregard for their interests for the sake of Israel."
"A homegrown, independent (regional) order is what will actually deliver peace and security," he added.
The United States and Israel launched joint airstrikes on Iran on Feb 28. Tehran responded by launching missiles and drones toward Israel and US military bases in regional countries. Media reports, citing regional officials, said Gulf Arab countries were frustrated with Washington for initiating the war while failing to shield them.
Iranian commander says pilots jailed in Qatar ‘severely wounded, ill’
Also on Saturday, an Iranian military commander said that Iran's three pilots believed to have been held captive by Qatar since March are "severely wounded and ill."
In a statement published on the committee's website, Commander of the Missing Persons Search Committee of the General Staff of Iran's Armed Forces Mohammad Bagherzadeh stressed that the pilots are being held offshore and called on the International Committee of the Red Cross to transfer them to Iran by air ambulance.
Bagherzadeh welcomed the Qatari government's move to accept a team of Iranian experts, calling on the Arab state to provide the necessary cooperation.
He said the offshore location for keeping the pilots is not appropriate and requested Qatar's government to transfer them to a well-equipped onshore hospital as soon as possible.
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Bagherzadeh also pointed to the situation of four Iranian nationals, who were detained by Kuwait in May on the charge of having attempted to "infiltrate" Kuwaiti territory, noting that the Arab state has granted initial consent to let Iran's ambassador meet them.
On Aug 15, Bagherzadeh said Qatari forces had captured three Iranian pilots whose fighter jets were shot down when returning from a military mission against a US base in Qatar in March. The commander said a fourth pilot was killed. Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari later denied the claim in a social media post.
The next day, Bagherzadeh called on the Qatari government to allow a fact-finding team from the Air Force of Iran's Army to visit Qatar.
On Monday, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said the country will use all its bilateral, multilateral and legal capacities to clarify the pilots' situation.
Egypt, Iran discuss peace efforts
Meanwhile, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and his Iranian counterpart Seyed Abbas Araghchi held a phone call on Saturday to discuss the latest regional developments and ongoing diplomatic efforts to de-escalate tensions.
The two ministers discussed efforts to create conditions for a return to diplomacy, including the implementation of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the United States and Iran on June 18, according to a statement from the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.
Abdelatty stressed the importance of intensifying ongoing diplomatic efforts to ease current escalations and reach peaceful understandings that would help restore security and stability in the region.
He also underscored the importance of ensuring the freedom and safety of international navigation and respecting the security and stability of the Gulf states in a way that serves the interests of all peoples in the region.
Araghchi briefed Abdelatty on Iran's assessment of recent developments, the course of negotiations, and the challenges facing them, according to the statement.
Under the US-Iran MoU, the two sides were scheduled to hold negotiations within a period of 60 days, which ended on Monday, to reach a final agreement. Yet the talks' fate remains unclear following the renewed escalation over the Strait of Hormuz.
