Tensions in the Middle East escalated on Wednesday as Iran’s military firmly denied claims by President Donald Trump that US was in talks to end the conflict.
The continued exchanges of airstrikes between Israel and Iran have already affected global markets, particularly energy and finance.
In a statement broadcast on state television, Ebrahim Zolfaqari, spokesperson for Iran’s joint military command largely led by the hardline Revolutionary Guards dismissed the idea of negotiations.
“Has your inner struggle reached the stage where you’re negotiating with yourself?” Zolfaqari said, addressing Trump directly. “People like us will never make a deal with people like you. Not now, not ever.”
Iran’s leadership has maintained that talks with the U.S. are off the table, citing two previous attacks by Washington during high-level negotiations over the past two years.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military reported carrying out a new wave of strikes on Tehran, with some reports indicating damage in residential areas. Rescue teams have been deployed to search for survivors.
Elsewhere, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia intercepted drone attacks, with a strike in Kuwait setting fire to a fuel tank at the country’s international airport, though no casualties were reported.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, in turn, announced fresh attacks targeting sites in Israel—including Tel Aviv and Kiryat Shmona as well as U.S. bases in Kuwait, Jordan, and Bahrain.
Trump, speaking from the White House on Tuesday, insisted that Washington was in contact with “the right people” in Iran and suggested that Tehran was willing to negotiate. Reports of a proposed 15-point plan and a month-long ceasefire briefly lifted oil prices and stock markets as investors hoped for a resolution.
Despite these claims, Iran’s military clearly signaled that it would not entertain negotiations at this stage, leaving uncertainty over the next steps in the conflict.
