America and Iran exchange fire... but say ceasefire is 'still on'

A relatively curious development in the Iran war: both sides have fired at each other, but neither say the ceasefire has been violated... Henry Riley is joined by former envoy to Donald Trump, Ambassador James F Jeffrey.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the offensive stage of the Iran war is "over".

Rubio insisted the United States was taking defensive action in enforcing its blockade of Iranian ports, and said the initial military operation against Iran was over.

"We are only responding if attacked first. This is a defensive operation," Rubio told a press conference on Tuesday.

"If no shots are fired at these ships and no shots are fired at us, we're not firing shots, but if we're fired on, we will respond."

The Iran conflict and ensuing stand-off between the US and Tehran have effectively closed the shipping lane, which is a major route for oil and gas supplies, sending energy prices soaring and damaging the global economy.

The United Arab Emirates said it was under attack from Iranian missiles and drones on Tuesday, even as Washington said a shaky ceasefire was intact.

Rubio said the US has been in touch with several ships about moving out of the strait, echoing remarks made earlier by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

The American military said it had destroyed six small boats, as well as cruise missiles and drones, after President Donald Trump announced the clearance operation called Project Freedom.

Rubio said it was time for Tehran to "accept the reality of the situation", adding that US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were continuing to explore a diplomatic solution.

That solution had to address any nuclear material that Iran still had buried "deep somewhere," Rubio said.

"The president's been clear that part of the negotiation process has to be not just the enrichment, but what happens to this material that's buried deep somewhere that they still have access to if they ever wanted to dig it out," he said.

Rubio declined to provide details on what progress had been made and said the actual agreement would not need to be written out in one day.

"This is highly complex and highly technical, but we have to have a diplomatic solution that is very clear about the topics that they are willing to negotiate on and the extent and the concessions they are willing to make at the front end in order to make those talks worthwhile," he said.

While Rubio spoke, the UK Maritime Trade Organisation announced that a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz had been hit, threatening to undermine US claims to have secured the waterway.

The speaker of Iran’s parliament, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, said: “We know well that the continuation of the current situation is unbearable for the United States, while we have not even begun yet.”

The country’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has also said both the US and the UAE “should be wary of being dragged back into quagmire”.

Tehran has released a new map of what it said was an expanded maritime area now under Iranian control, stretching beyond the strait and claiming lengthy sections of the UAE coastline.

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