Iran on Monday ruled out the possibility of ceasefire talks amid daily strikes by the United States and Israel.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Iran did not start the war, and had been in the middle of negotiations when it was attacked.
“Military aggression is ongoing,” Baghaei told the press. “There is little place to talk about anything other than defense and a crushing response to the enemy.”
On Monday, Iranian security forces were posted to mosques and other public facilities in Tehran and several cities, according to Iran International, citing witnesses.
The operatives include members of the Revolutionary Guards and Basij Resistance Force, a volunteer paramilitary organization operating under the IRGC.
The deployment followed explosions in Tehran and in areas across Is Shan, including Dowlatabad, Mahmoudabad, Malek Shahr, Shahin Shahr, Sepahan Shahr, and Zarrin Shahr.
In an interview with CBS News, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth stated that the US was willing to go as far as needed to a point where Iran “will have no choice but to surrender”.
Hegseth said America could use “more conventional munitions, gravity bombs, 500-pound, 1,000-pound, 2,000-pound bombs on military targets…we haven’t even begun to start that effort of the campaign.”
In Bahrain, state-owned Bapco Energies declared force majeure on its group operations on Monday following an attack. Its refinery complex was affected after an Iranian drone hit the Sitra area.
Force majeure has been announced across the Gulf energy sector amid the regional conflict. Kuwait’s state oil firm, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, and QatarEnergy have temporarily halted workflows.