Live Updates: 8-month Iran war looms over Israeli election as Egypt wades into Saudi's fight with the Houthis

London — Two men have been charged with serious security offenses in Britain after being arrested in connection with the incident last month near RAF Fairford, the air base in England that had been used by the U.S. military to launch strikes on Iran, the U.K. Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Tuesday.

Mohmed Abdulkarim, 24, and Nouman Essghir, 24, both British nationals and London residents, were charged under the 2023 National Security Act. 

Abdulkarim was charged with "assisting a foreign intelligence service" in September and "engaging in conduct that was likely to materially assist a foreign intelligence service in carrying out U.K.-related activities."

The CPS said Essghir was charged with a national security offense after he "approached or was in the vicinity of a prohibited place and his conduct was for a purpose that he knew, or having regards to other matters known to him ought reasonably to have known, was prejudicial to the safety or interests of the United Kingdom."

Both men were arrested last week on suspicion of assisting Iran's intelligence service in a suspected plot targeting the Fairford air base in England. 

Read more here.

The U.S. embassy in Baghdad has shot down two drones, Saudi state television channel Al Arabya reported Tuesday.

An Iraqi security source told the outlet that air defenses protecting the embassy destroyed the drones.

The government-owned Iraqi television channel Al-Anbar reported that the head of Iraq's Security Media Cell, Saad Maan, said that explosions heard across the capital were the result of a drone being intercepted and shot down.

The drone's origin remains unknown, and no immediate reports of casualties or damage have been released. The U.S. State Department has not yet commented on the incident. 

An oil slick in the Gulf has reached a beach in the United Arab Emirates, video from the AFP news agency showed on Tuesday, with experts warning it could threaten desalination plants as it spreads.

UAE authorities said Friday that they had "detected a tanker oil spill affecting Umm Al Quwain's beaches," referring to an emirate north of Dubai.

By Tuesday morning, footage shot by AFP showed workers cleaning up oil on the emirate's beaches, which had been shut earlier by authorities along with other beaches in the country.

Satellite images taken on Oct. 21 and analyzed by AFP show what appears to be a slick of about 70 square miles in that area. Three days later, images showed it had quadrupled in size to around 290 square miles.

Experts from NGOs including Dutch peace group PAX said oil came from the tanker GEM NO.2 after it was attacked on Oct. 9.

They warned the slick could affect operations at UAE desalination plants, crucial for supplying water to the Gulf country.

"Satellite imagery from October 26 shows oil slicks a few hundred metres away from the intake of the Naqaa desalination plant. It remains unclear to what extent this will affect the process at the plant itself,"  said Wim Zwijnenburg from PAX.

The British maritime security agency UKMTO reported on Oct. 9 that a vessel had been hit by a projectile off the UAE coast, causing a fire that was later brought under control.

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Mohsen Rezaee, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said regional countries should not rely on the United States for security, arguing that Washington has failed to provide credible security guarantees.

In a post on X Tuesday, Rezaee wrote: "America has not brought security to any country in the region, and Washington's inability to provide security guarantees has become clear. Security in West Asia must originate from within the region, and any foreign intervention must be prevented."

The U.S. has military bases in several Gulf countries that repeatedly were targeted at the height of the war.

A Houthi official said Tuesday that the Egyptian parliament's decision to authorize President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to deploy forces to Saudi Arabia to help the kingdom defend against the Iran-backed group's attacks was a declaration of war.

"Egypt and its parliament declared support for what is called the defense of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and in doing so, it declares war against the Republic of Yemen," said Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a member of the Houthi political bureau, in a Telegram post.

El-Sisi stressed last week that the Egyptian deployment would be entirely defensive, "and does not include an attack on Yemen."

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Oil prices held more or less steady early Tuesday, with international benchmark Brent crude hovering around $116 a barrel, little changed from the previous day when senior officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan held talks with Iran in an attempt to stop the Middle East war from reigniting. Tehran said the discussions were "very good."

Officials from the three Mecca pact countries flew to Iran as part of efforts to "de-escalate between the parties to the current crisis," a Saudi foreign ministry statement said.

The talks followed warnings by the United States, Iran and Israel that hostilities could restart in the eight-month war, with some observers suggesting the period between next Tuesday's U.S. midterm elections and the new Congress taking office could be particularly fraught.

Also in view are elections in Israel, where voters began delivering their verdict on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who told President Trump a week ago that they have "a job to finish" in Iran.

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Israelis started casting votes Tuesday morning in a national election set to shape the country's next government, with the Iran war looming large over their decisions.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, echoing warnings issued repeatedly by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for weeks leading up to the vote, told voters that they were facing a decision "between two security paradigms: an approach based on offense, initiative, and decisive victory — or a return to a policy of containment and restraint."

"We have struck Iran twice and eliminated existential threats; we have expanded Israel's security perimeter in Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza to protect Israeli communities; and we are currently strengthening and fortifying our eastern border and the Jordan Valley," he said, calling on Israeli voters to "support this path in order to finish the job."

Netanyahu has called for Israel and the U.S. to resume attacks on Iran, telling President Trump, who has endorsed him enthusiastically, last week, "we have a job to finish."

The Iranian regime has dismissed the importance of the Israeli election, with foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei telling reporters Monday that the outcome will have no bearing on Iran's preparedness to face a resumption of hostilities, or to negotiate a deal to end the war based on its longstanding demands. 

The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen's Houthi rebels said on Tuesday that it had shot down three missiles fired by the group toward the kingdom's eastern region.

"Air defenses intercepted and destroyed three ballistic missiles launched by the terrorist Houthi militia toward the Eastern Province," coalition spokesman Turki Al-Malki wrote on X. 

Senior officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan held talks with Iran on Monday in an attempt to stop the Middle East war from reigniting, with Tehran saying the discussions were "very good."

Officials from the three Mecca pact countries flew to Iran as part of efforts to "de-escalate between the parties to the current crisis," a Saudi foreign ministry statement said. It was the first joint visit to Tehran by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey since they formed a defense alliance in Mecca, the holy city in western Saudi Arabia, in August.

The talks, which included heavyweight Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, followed warnings by the United States, Iran and Israel that hostilities could restart in the eight-month war. 

The delegations met Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. The meeting ended without concrete announcements, with the various parties saying they "agreed to continue discussions" according to Iranian state media.

But Iran's security chief Mohsen Rezaei said the discussions in the capital were "very good," according to state television. "I feel that a new atmosphere is emerging in the region... I sensed a very positive atmosphere in the discussions among the gentlemen," said the head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council.

He said they agreed that security in the region "should be achieved by the countries themselves, and that we must prevent any kind of foreign intervention," saying emphasis was put on the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon, southern Syria, Gaza and the West Bank.

Kuwait condemned three men to death on Monday for plotting the assassination of the deputy prime minister, collaborating with Iran and joining Hezbollah, two judiciary sources told AFP.

The three men are all from the Shia Muslim community, which makes up around a third of Kuwait's population.

Huseein Abdallah al-Maatouq, a religious dignitary and secretary-general of the National Islamic Alliance, was among the three condemned by the criminal court, the sources said.

Another of the trio had been convicted in 2016 of terrorism before being pardoned by the country's emir. He was arrested again in April, the sources said.

The men are accused of undermining national interests, collaborating with Iran, planning the assassination of the deputy prime minister and interior minister, and membership of Hezbollah, which is classified as a terrorist group by Kuwait.

The court sentenced 11 other people connected to the case to five years of hard labor.

Since the start of the Middle East war in February, Gulf countries, including Kuwait, have arrested dozens of people with suspected ties to Iran.

A vessel was on fire off the coast of Iraq on Monday, according to the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations center, or UKMTO, citing multiple third-party reports.

The vessel was situated 63 nautical miles from Al-Faw, a coastal town located along the Gulf between Iran and Kuwait, the maritime monitor said. 

"Crew status, damage assessment, and environment impact are unknown," wrote UKMTO of the incident, which it deemed "suspicious activity." 

The agency reminded those transiting the area to do so with caution while authorities investigate what may have occurred.

Wrapping up his re-election campaign on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that Israel could face potential annihilation by Iran if his political rivals prevailed over him.

Over the course of a neck-and-neck race, Netanyahu has campaigned heavily on his security credentials, insisting only he can "finish the job" against Tehran and painting his main challenger, ex-army chief Gadi Eisenkot, as soft on Israel's sworn foe.

"I think this is a fateful moment for the future of the state, because we have enemies who want to annihilate us," Netanyahu told Israel's Channel 14 the day before Tuesday's vote, adding, "Gadi Eisenkot will not strike Iran."

Eisenkot has in turn accused the premier of playing politics with security on the election's eve and citing the Iran threat when it suits him — an allegation that came after a report, citing unnamed sources, said there were concerns within the Israeli army that the war was being politicized.

Netanyahu dismissed the report as "rubbish," and Defense Minister Israel Katz said any reports of a gap between the army and political leadership were "entirely baseless and false."

CBS/AFP

High-level delegations from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey were in Tehran on Monday for meetings with Iranian authorities to try to avert renewed fighting in the Iran war, Iran's Foreign Ministry said. Iran and the three countries party to the Mecca defense pact — Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan — agreed to continue talks after a "first" meeting in Tehran, Iranian state television reported.

Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman, Pakistani army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and Ibrahim Kalin, the head of Turkey's intelligence service, met with Iran's top security officials and negotiators to push for a deal between Tehran and Washington. 

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told reporters in Tehran that the agenda for the Monday meeting wasn't set, but the talks would "undoubtedly address the most pressing threats to regional security," while Saudi Arabia said in a statement that the delegations hoped to find "ways to de-escalate tensions, enhance regional security and promote its stability."

Two regional officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak to reporters, told the Associated Press that the war in Yemen and strikes by Iran-backed Houthi rebels against Saudi Arabia were also among the topics discussed during the talks.

During the talks on Monday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said that Iran supports any agreement that would deepen regional cooperation, resolve differences and make greater use of the shared resources and capabilities of Islamic countries. 

The meeting followed Qatari mediators' trip to Tehran on Sunday, which was coordinated alongside the U.S. and came as part of an effort to scale back regional tensions, a regional official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks, told AP.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold five bilateral meetings with foreign leaders on the sidelines of the eighth summit of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), including with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said Monday, according to Interfax.

Pezeshkian said before departing Tehran that his visit to Moscow would include discussions aimed at securing energy transit routes and eliminating insecurity in the Middle East, which he said was caused by the war sparked by the joint U.S.-Israeli assault on Iran almost eight months ago.

The Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen's government in the escalating civil war with the Iran-backed Houthis claimed Monday to have shot down three more drones over the Saudi capital Riyadh, and in the south of the country.

In a post on X, coalition spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki Al-Maliki announced the "interception and destruction of 3 drones in the Riyadh region and the southern region."

He did not specify where the drones came from, but the Houthis have attacked Saudi Arabia with missiles and drones for weeks in retaliation for the kingdom's involvement in the Yemen war.

Earlier Monday, al-Maliki said Saudi air defenses intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis at Riyadh. The Saudis have struggled to intercept Houthi missiles and drones on the kingdom's infrastructure.

Israeli TV station Channel 12 reported Sunday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had fallen out with army chief Eyal Zamir over an unspecified new directive on Iran.

Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz have both denied the reports, but a senior Israeli source with deep knowledge of the people involved has told CBS News the report of a rift seems credible.

The biggest tell, the source said, is that the Channel 12 report passed through military censorship. All stories by Israeli media that deal with national security must go through the censor before publication. This is key, according to the source, because it indicates that military brass felt it was necessary for the public to have the information before Israeli parliamentary elections on Tuesday.

Had it been false, the military censor would have simply prevented it from being published, the source told CBS News.

The other sign the report may be true is that Zamir, according to the source, is not personally opposed to renewed attacks on Iran – he's just opposed to the timing. The source said while there are likely new threats emerging from Iran, the question for commanders is whether new strikes need to happen now. 

The military appears to believe that nothing requires a response within such a short timeframe, as Israelis prepare to cast their votes, according to the source.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Monday that insecurity created by the United States in the Middle East was harming the entire world, as he prepared to travel to Moscow to attend the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) at the invitation of Russia's president Vladimir Putin.

Pezeshkian said the GECF has 12 member countries and, together with its eight observer members, oversees more than 70% of the world's gas supply. He added that a substantial share of the energy needed globally is exported by these nations.

"The problems the United States has created by igniting war in the region and bringing insecurity to Europe have disrupted the free flow of energy," Pezeshkian said, apparently referring to the ongoing U.S.-Iran war and Putin's long-standing claim that the U.S. and Europe are responsible for Russia's ongoing full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

He said his visit to Moscow would include discussions aimed at securing energy transit routes and eliminating insecurity.

Egypt's parliament on Monday approved a request by President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi that allows him to send troops to Saudi Arabia to help defend the kingdom from attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

Egypt's House of Representatives "approved authorizing President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to take the necessary measures to support the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," state-run newspaper Al-Ahram reported.

El-Sisi stressed last week that it would only be a defensive mission, "and does not include an attack on Yemen."

Under Egypt's Constitution, the president must consult the National Defense Council and obtain approval from two-thirds of parliament before deploying the armed forces on a combat mission abroad.

Egypt has managed, so far, to stay out of the recent military conflicts across the Middle East and has been involved in some mediation efforts. Some in the country view that as one of el-Sisi's greatest achievements.

But political analyst Samir Ragheb, a retired army brigadier, told CBS News it was time for Egypt to make good on commitments to help secure the region.

"This is a time of war, not politics and statements," he said last week. "If Egypt fails to deliver on these promises, they will lose their meaning and amount to nothing more than empty threats."

The Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen's government said Monday that its forces carried out a military operation targeting areas controlled by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in response to repeated attacks by the group using ballistic missiles and drones.

In a statement posted on X, coalition spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki Al-Malki said the operation sought to neutralize "the sources of threat," and included strikes against Houthi military infrastructure.

"The operation included the destruction of (5) tunnels used for storing ballistic missiles, (4) ballistic missile launchers, and a missile storage [unit]," Al-Malki said.

He added that the operation sought to disrupt supply lines between areas under Houthi control, targeting "fortifications, elements, and military equipment along the front lines inside Yemen."

Al-Malki said the operation was conducted in response to repeated Houthi attacks allegedly targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure in Saudi Arabia and Yemen. He said the coalition would continue taking "deterrent operational measures" to protect Saudi and Yemeni civilians.

He said the operation was conducted "in accordance with the Customary International Humanitarian Law."

Earlier, al-Maliki said Saudi air defenses intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis at the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has praised his nation's resilience after nearly eight months of war with the U.S., crediting civil defense efforts, national mobilization and cooperation between the armed forces and diplomatic service.

"The victorious resistance of our beloved country during the enemy's two recent acts of aggression has been made possible only through the solidarity and mobilization of all military and civilian sectors, as well as the proud presence of all segments of the Iranian people on the front lines of resistance," he said in a message marking Iran's Civil Defense Week.

Araghchi added that close coordination between the armed forces and the diplomatic service had brought "great achievements" in safeguarding Iran's independence and dignity.

He said the foreign ministry would use its diplomatic capabilities to defend the country politically and legally and protect national interests.

"It will spare no effort in pursuing this mission," Araghchi said.

Last week, intelligence firm Kpler told The Wall Street Journal that the shadow fleet of tankers holding Iran's offshore oil reserves, which it had been selling to China throughout the war against the U.S. and Israel, had run dry.

The millions of barrels of crude, held on dozens of oil tankers in Asian water, ran out in mid-October, Kpler told the outlet, with a U.S. naval blockade preventing Iran from replacing the crude being sold to Chinese refineries.

The U.S. naval blockade has cost Iran at least $25 billion in oil revenue, according to U.S. Central Command.

Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Sunday called for a campaign to cut gas consumption by at least 10%, with officials anticipating shortages as winter approaches.

A tanker was struck in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, the U.K. navy's Maritime Trade Operations center said Monday.

The maritime monitor said it received a "verified time-late report" of the incident, in which "a tanker transiting outbound was struck by an unknown projectile, disabling the vessel."

In a post on X, UKMTO said "the crew have been reported safe." 

Iran claimed to have struck at least four tankers near the strait on Thursday last week, but there was no corroboration of its claims, and President Trump accused the Iranian regime of inventing attacks on commercial vessels in a bid to hike up global oil prices ahead of the U.S. midterm elections. 

Defense Minister Israel Katz on Monday rejected reports of a rift between Israel's army and its civilian leaders - most notably Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - over the prospect of new strikes in the war with Iran as "entirely baseless."

Israel's Channel 12 reported Sunday, citing unnamed sources, that there had been a confrontation between Netanyahu and army chief Eyal Zamir over an unspecified new directive.

Netanyahu dismissed the report as "rubbish" during a TV appearance, and Katz characterized it as an effort to cast doubt on the Netanyahu administration's judgement on the eve of close parliamentary elections that could unseat him.

"The reports about gaps between the political echelon and the IDF [army] on the Iran issue are entirely baseless and false," Katz said on X, insisting there was "complete" coordination between the two.

In its report, Channel 12 said Zamir had demanded a detailed discussion as well as legal guarantees and the signatures of the political leadership before carrying out the directive he had received. The outlet did not offer details of the purported directive, but cited sources saying there were concerns within the army that the war might be exploited for political gain.

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The price of Brent crude oil hovered around $115 a barrel early Monday after surging at the end of last week over global supply concerns linked to the ongoing wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, as the northern hemisphere heads into the gas-hungry winter.

President Trump has fueled speculation that he could order a resumption of U.S. strikes on Iran after next Tuesday's midterm elections.

The president told Fox News on Sunday: "I have a decision to make: Do I finish it off, which would be very easy to do, or do I make a deal? That's all."

Additional U.S. forces, including a third aircraft carrier group, have been sent to the region, though U.S. diplomatic staffing levels have been reduced, and sources told CBS News last week that the overall American military footprint in the Middle East was also being quietly reduced.

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Iran's foreign ministry said Monday that the outcome of the Israeli elections in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing a tight race will make "no difference".

"It makes no difference to us who, in these elections, takes the helm of a regime that has brought nothing but violence and massacres to our region," said ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei in a weekly press briefing, a day ahead of the Israeli legislative polls.

Netanyahu claimed Sunday that Israel had "intelligence signs that our enemies, Iran and its proxies, could challenge us with attacks in order to disrupt the elections."

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Senior officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan will hold talks on regional security with Iranian officials on Monday in Tehran, Iranian and Saudi authorities said.

The meeting will follow eight months of war in the Middle East and recent U.S. and Israeli threats of renewed attacks against Iran.

"As agreed, Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman, Pakistani army chief General Asim Munir and Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin will participate in this meeting," said Ali Bagheri Kani, the deputy secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council.

In an interview with state television, Kani said the meeting will also include Iran's security chief, Mohsen Rezaei.

Saudi Deputy Minister for Public Diplomacy Dr. Rayed Krimly confirmed that the kingdom's defense minister was heading a delegation to Tehran on Monday.

"The visit comes as part of the continued efforts by the Makkah Joint Defense Agreement countries for de-escalation between parties involved in the ongoing crisis," Krimly said in a post on X.

It is aimed at "promoting dialogue and diplomatic solutions, in support of the mediation efforts carried out by the State of Qatar and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan," he added.

The Saudi-led military coalition fighting alongside the Yemeni government in the country's civil war said Monday it intercepted a ballistic missile fired by Yemen's Houthis, after the Iran-backed group claimed a new attack on the international airport in Riyadh.

A Houthi spokesperson said the group launched attacks the airport on Sunday, just hours after it resumed flights. Deadly strikes by the rebel group earlier this month had forced the airport to shut down operations for more than two weeks .

Coalition spokesman Turki Al-Malki said on Monday that air defenses "intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile" fired by the Houthis toward Riyadh and destroyed two ballistic missile launchers in Yemen's capital Sanaa.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said Monday the group "successfully targeted" the airport with a ballistic missile, and struck oil pumping stations with drones.

Saree previously warned that Riyadh airport was still "unsafe" and a "military target," as the airport prepared to resume international flights.

The airport closure was a major blow for Saudi Arabia, forcing the postponement of the kingdom's flagship investment conference until 2027 and disrupting travel plans for thousands of passengers.

Saudi Arabia and the government it backs in Yemen have come under sustained attack in recent weeks from the Houthis as a years-long truce broke down over the summer, shifting the focus of the wider U.S.-Iran war that erupted in February.

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Iran and its allies might try to disrupt Tuesday's Israeli elections, warning the Islamic republic against any hostile acts.

"The IDF is prepared in both defense and offense," Netanyahu said in a video released by his office on Sunday, using the acronym for the Israeli army.

"We have intelligence signs that our enemies, Iran and its proxies, could challenge us with attacks in order to disrupt the elections," he added. "Don't test us. You will suffer disproportionate blows."

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President Trump said Sunday morning that he's deciding between reaching an agreement with Tehran and taking action to "finish them off," after suggesting Friday that Washington "may do another little Epic Fury," in reference to the U.S. and Israel's joint military campaign against Iran.

"Now, my question is, do I make a deal with them, or do I finish them off?" said Mr. Trump in an interview with Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures."

He also claimed that the U.S. now controls the Strait of Hormuz and criticized former President Barack Obama for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, which is better known as the Iran nuclear deal. Obama signed the agreement in 2015, but Mr. Trump pulled out of it during his first term in office. 

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday that a potential resumption of war with Israel and the United States would not change his country's positions.

The remarks came amid mounting tensions between Tehran and Washington after President Trump said Friday that Washington "may do another little Epic Fury," referring to the U.S.-Israeli campaign on Iran that began on Feb. 28.

"Recently, there has been talk of a new war, but I am already thinking about the post-war period. Whether there is war or not, our policies remain the same," said Araghchi during a televised event in Tehran.

"They have already done so twice and have seen the results. If they want to try again, they know they will achieve no different outcome from those of the past."

Direct negotiations between the U.S. and Iran have appeared to stall for weeks, but Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said earlier Sunday that Tehran had not closed the window of diplomacy and messages were still being passed to the U.S. via intermediaries.

CBS/AFP