Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said on Tuesday that it would launch a “decisive reciprocal response” to any attack that violated the cease-fire, injecting more uncertainty into fragile diplomatic efforts a day after the U.S. military struck targets in southern Iran.
Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, also suggested that the country could renew strikes on U.S. military installations in the Persian Gulf, which Tehran had repeatedly targeted after the United States and Israel started bombing Iran in late February.
“The hands of time do not turn backward, and the nations and lands of the region will no longer serve as shields for American bases,” Mr. Khamenei wrote in a statement released to commemorate the start of the hajj, the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca.
The Iranian warnings came after U.S. forces struck missile launch sites in southern Iran and destroyed two Revolutionary Guard speedboats that U.S. officials said were trying to place mines in the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf waterway that is a critical transit route for crude oil and natural gas.
Two American officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters, said that in the 24 hours preceding the U.S. strikes, Iran had launched attack drones near some of the nearly two dozen U.S. Navy warships in or around the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. The ships are enforcing a blockade on vessels trying to enter or leave Iranian ports.
U.S. Central Command called the attacks on Monday “self-defense strikes” intended to “protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces.”
The renewed hostilities — along with intensifying Israeli strikes against Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia in Lebanon — have threatened to upend the push for a diplomatic agreement to end the conflict and reopen the Strait of Hormuz to commercial ship traffic.
Iran has effectively blockaded the waterway, causing energy prices to soar, since the United States and Israeli attacks began on Feb. 28. President Trump and his administration, under pressure to address rising costs at home, have sent conflicting signals about the possibility of a diplomatic breakthrough.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Tuesday that negotiations were continuing.
“There were some talks going on in Qatar today, so we’ll see if we can make progress,” he said. “I think it’s a lot of talking back and forth going on about specific language in the initial document, so it’ll take a few days. The president’s expressed his desire to make it. He’s either going to make a good deal or no deal.”
On Tuesday, Iran’s lead negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who had been in Qatar for the talks, returned to Iran, the Iranian state broadcaster reported. It was not clear if his departure signaled any meaningful shift in the negotiations.
Mr. Trump has repeatedly threatened to strike Iran harder if it does not agree to his terms for a peace deal. On Monday, he said the result of the negotiations could be “great and meaningful” or “no deal” at all.
Much remains uncertain about the negotiations, including whether Iran would be willing to hand over its stockpile of enriched uranium or destroy it in front of neutral observers, as Mr. Trump has demanded.
On Tuesday, Iran began restoring some internet access for tens of millions of Iranians who have been living under a government-imposed communications blackout for months.
“In line with the esteemed president’s mission and in fulfillment of the government’s promise, the first step toward free and regulated access to cyberspace has been taken,” Iran’s first vice president, Mohammad Reza Aref, wrote on social media.
Iran had cut off internet access in response to the February attacks, casting the blackout as a national security issue. Iranian activists have argued that it was intended to suppress dissent and increase government control.
The shutdown hurt Iran’s already battered economy. Its tech sector suffered heavily, forcing companies to close and to lay off workers. Iranians who sold or advertised merchandise online also struggled.
NetBlocks, an internet monitoring group, reported on Tuesday that its data showed a “partial restoration to internet connectivity” in Iran after 88 days, making it “the longest nationwide internet shutdown in modern history.”
Iranians said on social media and in messages to The New York Times that they were able to connect to the global internet after the long period of isolation.
The restoration came as Iran’s foreign ministry accused the United States of violating the cease-fire agreement between the two sides and suggested in a statement that the latest U.S. strikes undermined the ongoing efforts to resolve the war diplomatically.
Three senior Iranian officials told The Times over the weekend that any agreement with the United States must also halt the fighting in Lebanon, even though a cease-fire went into effect last month.
On Tuesday, the Israeli military intensified its campaign after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered it to “increase the blows” against Hezbollah.
The Israeli military said it had struck more than 100 Hezbollah sites in southern and eastern Lebanon, including what it said were weapons storage facilities and command centers. It also issued an evacuation warning on Tuesday for the whole of Nabatieh, one of the largest cities in southern Lebanon, signaling that airstrikes there were imminent.
Mashghara, a town in the Bekaa Valley, was among the areas hit overnight At least 11 people were killed, including two children, according to Lebanon’s health ministry. Asked about the strike, the Israeli military referred to an earlier statement saying it had targeted “Hezbollah infrastructure sites.”
“We are at war with Hezbollah,” Mr. Netanyahu said in a video statement on Monday night. He added he had ordered the military to “press on the pedal even more.”
Two Israeli military officials, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive plans, said on Tuesday that troops were now operating beyond what Israel called the “forward defense line,” an area extending several miles into southern Lebanon that Israel has occupied since it invaded the country during the latest conflict.
Hezbollah said on Tuesday that it had launched drone and rocket attacks on Israeli troops in southern Lebanon. The group has increasingly used low-cost, fiber-optic drones, which are difficult to jam, in order to target Israeli troops. The attacks have exposed an Israeli vulnerability, even after weeks of airstrikes and ground operations aimed at degrading Hezbollah’s capabilities.
As a result, Mr. Netanyahu has faced growing pressure from Israeli hard-liners to broaden the campaign in Lebanon, including by resuming strikes on Beirut and its southern outskirts. Such a move would further strain the peace talks.
Reporting was contributed by Eric Schmitt, Yeganeh Torbati, Sanam Mahoozi, Edward Wong, Leily Nikounazar and Aaron Boxerman.
