Iran condemns US strikes as show of 'bad faith', warns of consequences

Iran on Tuesday denounced US strikes a day earlier as a sign of bad faith and unreliability as negotiations continue toward a possible deal to end the warThe US military has characterised Mondays strikes in southern Iran as defensive saying targets included missile launch sites and boats placing mines and said the US acted with restraint in light of the weekslong ceasefireIrans foreign ministry called the strikes a ceasefire violation and warned that Washington would bear responsibility for all consequences without detailsThe Islamic Republic of Iran will leave no act of aggression unanswered it added in a statementIrans Revolutionary Guard on Tuesday said it had shot down and deterred drones and a fighter jet that entered its airspace according to Irans official Mizan news agency which did not specify when the incident occurredIt wasnt immediately clear what the developments would mean for negotiations The strikes came after Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf went to Qatar as part of the talks which US President Donald Trump said Monday were proceeding nicelyThe strikes were the latest flareup in the fragile ceasefire that began April 7 and has largely heldNegotiations centre in part on the Strait of Hormuz the crucial waterway off southern Iran through which a fifth of the worlds crude oil and natural gas passed before the war began with USIsraeli strikes in February Tehran retaliated by effectively closing the strait stranding hundreds of ships and shocking the global economyThe strait has become a powerful lever for Tehran in talks joining the longrunning issue of Irans nuclear programme and highly enriched uranium Iran in turn wants the US to lift its military blockade of Iranian ports that began on April 17The strait also is cause for growing concern as supplies of fertilizer are also badly affected for vulnerable global farmersWhat we are witnessing today is not only a geopolitical crisis it is a systemic shock to the global agrifood system the directorgeneral of the UNs Food and Agriculture Organization Qu Dongyu said TuesdayTrump has introduced a new angle in negotiations for a deal on the war saying any agreement to end the war should include a requirement for several additional countries including Saudi Arabia and Pakistan to join the Abraham Accords a series of USbrokered diplomatic economic and security agreements aimed at normalising relations with IsraelBahrain and the United Arab Emirates became the first countries to join in 2020 Sudan Morocco and Kazakhstan have followed Egypt and Jordan already formally recognize Israel and have longstanding peace treaties Turkey first recognised Israel in 1949Israels conduct against Palestinians including in the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip has alienated Gulf Arab states and the wider Muslim world but Trump has been keen to build on the Abraham Accords forged during his first term He even has suggested that Iran eventually could sign onThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever