Israel and Iran exchanged airstrikes on Wednesday, as Iran’s military rejected President Donald Trump’s assertion the U.S. was in negotiations to end the war which has roiled energy and financial markets, saying the U.S. is negotiating with itself.
The rejection of negotiations by the unified command of the Iranian Armed Forces, which is dominated by the hardline elite Revolutionary Guards, comes amid reports the U.S. has sent a 15-point plan for discussion to Tehran.
“Has the level of your inner struggle reached the stage of you (Trump) negotiating with yourself?” the top spokesperson for Iran’s joint military command, Ebrahim Zolfaqari, said on Iranian state TV.
“People like us can never get along with people like you.”
“As we have always said … no one like us will make a deal with you. Not now. Not ever.”
Iran’s leadership has previously said it cannot negotiate with the U.S. as Washington has attacked the country twice during high-level negotiations in the past two years.
Iran had a “very bad experience with American diplomacy,” Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told India Today on Tuesday.
There was no dialogue or negotiations with Washington, as Iran’s armed forces are focused on defending the country, he added.
Four weeks into the war that has killed thousands, created the worst energy shock in history and sparked global inflation fears, there was no letup in airstrikes from Iran and Israel on Wednesday.
The Israeli military said in a Telegram post it had launched a wave of strikes targeting infrastructure across Tehran. It later said its air force had struck two naval cruise missile production sites in Tehran.
The semi-official Iranian SNN News Agency said the strikes hit a residential area in the city, with rescuers searching the rubble.
Kuwait and Saudi Arabia said they had repelled fresh drone attacks, without saying where they came from. Drones targeted a fuel tank at Kuwait International Airport, causing a fire but no casualties, Kuwait’s Civil Aviation Authority said.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said it had launched a new wave of attacks against locations in Israel including Tel Aviv and Kiryat Shmona, as well as U.S. bases in Kuwait, Jordan and Bahrain, Iranian state media reported.
Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday the U.S. was in “negotiations” with “the right people” in Iran to end the war, adding the Iranians wanted to reach a deal very badly.
Stocks rose and oil prices fell on Wednesday on reports the U.S. is seeking a month-long ceasefire and had sent a 15-point plan to Iran for discussion, raising hopes for a resumption of oil exports out of the Persian Gulf.
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