An Iranian official ruled out diplomacy and said Tehran is prepared for a prolonged war with Washington and may continue attacking Gulf countries to pressure them to urge US President Donald Trump to step back from the conflict, in an interview with CNN late Monday.
Kamal Kharazi, a foreign policy adviser to the office of Iran's supreme leader, warned that diplomacy is not currently an option and said the war could end only if economic pressure pushes other countries to intervene.
"I don't see any room for diplomacy anymore. Because Donald Trump had been deceiving others and not keeping with his promises, and we experienced this in two times of negotiations — that while we were engaged in negotiation, they struck us," Kharazi told CNN on Monday.
"There's no room unless the economic pressure would be built up to the extent that other countries would intervene to guarantee (the) termination of aggression of Americans and Israelis against Iran," he added.
Kharazi suggested Gulf Arab countries and others should pressure Washington to end the conflict.
"This war has been producing a lot of pressure — economic pressure — on others, in terms of inflation, in terms of lack of energy, and so if it will be continued, this pressure will be built up more, and therefore others have no choice (but) to intervene," he said.
Asked whether Iran's military and leadership remain unified, Kharazi said they do.
"Yes, exactly," he said.
"The responsibility of the leader of Islamic Republic of Iran is to lead the defense capability of Iran, and therefore, as Ayatollah Khamenei was doing that, now the new leader would do that," he added.
Trump said last week that Mojtaba Khamenei's appointment as his father's successor would be "unacceptable" to him.
"That is not his business," Kharazi said.
The interview comes as regional escalation has intensified since Israel and the US launched a joint attack on Iran on Feb. 28, which has so far killed more than 1,200 people, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to Iranian authorities.
Iran has retaliated with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel, Jordan, Iraq, and Gulf countries that are home to US military assets.
Iran also effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz. The strategic waterway linking the Persian Gulf with the Arabian Sea normally handles about 20 million barrels of oil shipments daily and around 20% of global liquefied natural gas trade, most of which is destined for Asian markets.
The disruption is forcing exporters to search for alternative shipping routes while also cutting off the region's large exports of crop nutrients used in fertilizer production.
The supply shock, combined with rising energy and freight costs, is expected to increase pressure on global food supply chains and contribute to higher food prices worldwide.
