Iran approached two Persian Gulf states for UAE-style de-escalation pact - Reuters

The head of Iran’s parliament National Security and Foreign Policy Committee said a proposed bill on managing the Strait of Hormuz would cover transit rules and what he called the rights of the Iranian nation.

Ebrahim Azizi said the plan, formally described as a bill for the security, development and progress of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, would be a “complete and comprehensive” law if passed by parliament.

He compared the initiative to the nationalization of Iran’s oil industry, calling it a lasting measure.

Iran’s judiciary chief said Tehran’s confrontation with the United States and its allies would not end, using a message on the anniversary of the 12-day war to warn against trust in Washington.

“Our battle with the front of the wicked and arrogant has no end, except with the uprooting of oppression and arrogance,” Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei wrote.

He added that the Islamic Republic has “absolutely no trust” in the United States, saying the mistrust was rooted in historical experience.

Ejei also called for national unity and said Iran’s armed forces remained central to what he described as the country’s deterrence after last year’s war.

Conservative Iranian daily Javan criticized hardliners who reject any negotiation with the United States, saying talks can be part of the same confrontation rather than a retreat from it.

The newspaper said some critics “do not accept any discussion or negotiation” and cannot understand that diplomacy can function like war or as its continuation.

It mocked those who argue Iran stopped fighting just as the enemy’s defenses were exhausted, saying they imagined Tehran had reached the moment of final victory and should not have halted the war.

Javan said many critics of the talks lack military knowledge and are wrongly comparing the current conflict with the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, which it noted also did not end without negotiation.

The paper said Trump and the United States remain hostile, but argued that opposing every diplomatic move because of Washington’s history is a weak argument.

“Negotiation does not mean compromise, losing guarantees or being deceived by a bullying and oath-breaking side,” Javan wrote, adding that governments can fight and negotiate at the same time.

The daily said Iranians should trust the leadership and negotiators to prevent political chaos, describing negotiation not as a tool to remove hostility but as a way to manage the enemy.

It warned that both blanket opposition to talks and claims that Iran has no choice but to accept a deal only benefit the enemy.

Iran has sharply escalated efforts to seal off its near bomb-grade uranium stockpile, deliberately collapsing tunnels and placing explosive mines at entrances amid fears of a possible US operation to seize the material, CNN reported, citing five sources familiar with US intelligence.

The report said access to roughly half a ton of highly enriched uranium is now far more difficult, dangerous and time-consuming than it was a month ago, when President Donald Trump was publicly suggesting the US military could move to seize it.

The added fortifications could complicate a proposed US-Iran deal that Washington says would require Tehran to turn over its enriched uranium for destruction and removal from the country.

CNN said most of the stockpile is believed by the international community to be in collapsed tunnels at the Isfahan nuclear complex, with some material held at other sites.

Experts cited by CNN said even Iran would now face a risky and complex task retrieving the uranium, requiring heavy excavation equipment and de-mining operations.

Scott Roecker, a former senior US nuclear material removal official, said the situation could also give Iran room to claim part of the stockpile is irretrievable, raising doubts over full verification.

CNN previously reported that the US military prepared plans in May for a possible ground operation inside Iran to seize the material, but Trump paused the plan after warnings it could trigger severe Iranian retaliation, prolong the war, disrupt the global economy and cause significant US casualties.

The report said the removal of Iran’s uranium under any deal would likely require a specialized US mobile uranium facility organized through the National Nuclear Security Administration at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Trump has said securing the material is a priority in negotiations to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but CNN said even top nuclear removal experts would need significant time to complete the task.

Iranian daily Khorasan said a possible agreement between Tehran and Washington would only delay what it described as a final confrontation between Iran and the United States, rather than resolve the underlying conflict.

In a commentary, the newspaper said any deal at this stage should be seen as an agreement to end the current war, not a settlement of the core disputes between Tehran and Washington.

“The issues between Iran and America, and especially Iran and Israel, have reached the level of an existential battle that will in practice end only with the decisive victory of one side,” Khorasan wrote.

The paper argued that negotiations and agreements would have little effect on that trajectory, describing them as a temporary phase before what it called the “final battle.”

It said the main function of a deal would not be recognition of Iran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz, the release of blocked Iranian assets or any other real gain written into the text, but rather “postponing the final battle” and giving both sides time to rebuild.

“The main function of this agreement is a breathing space and a chance to rebuild offensive and defensive combat power and prepare for a full-scale and major battle,” the paper wrote.

Khorasan’s commentary adds to hardline criticism inside Iran of a possible memorandum of understanding with the United States, even as Iranian officials say the text is in final review and could be signed remotely if talks are completed.