Iran has set up civilian military training camps, including the first one reserved for women, and says it is ready to defend itself against any renewed US attack, even as indirect diplomacy with Washington appears stalled. On Sunday, dozens of women in traditional black chadors took part in weapons and first-aid training in Imam Hussein Square in Tehran, according to BBC Arabic, as officials urged Iranians to be ready to sacrifice for the nation.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told a gathering of foreign ambassadors in Tehran that there is no military solution to the conflict and none based on new sanctions. Only negotiations grounded in "justice and fairness" could end it, he said. He added that if adversaries again chose military confrontation, Iran's response would be stronger than before. Army spokesman Mohammad Akraminia said Iran would increase the range of its missiles, and Reuters sources reported last week that Tehran was preparing a broader response to any large-scale US strikes.
The central dispute is the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway at the mouth of the Gulf through which about a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas passed before the war began in late February with US and Israeli strikes on Iran. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf, described as Iran's chief negotiator, said the strait will not reopen until seven Iranian conditions, based on the Islamabad memorandum of understanding signed in June, are met. He said the era of "dragging out the process and dictating one-sided demands" was over. Reported conditions include an end to the US naval blockade, release of frozen Iranian assets, relief from oil sanctions and a halt to military operations across the region. Iran has not officially published a full list.
Iranian and US officials held indirect talks on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, with Qatar passing messages between them. President Donald Trump publicly rejected Iran's proposal, which envisaged reopening the strait within seven days, but has kept both diplomacy and military options open. Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said the latest US counterproposals were broadly in line with earlier positions, especially on the nuclear issue, and denied Iran had offered UN inspections in exchange for sanctions relief. A source cited by one outlet said the disagreement concerns the sequence of steps rather than their content.
The US has not struck Iran since 1 September, but it continues to build up forces. Axios reported additional Patriot missile batteries sent to Saudi Arabia and Qatar and the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier group heading to the region. The UK maritime trade agency reported a tanker hit by an unidentified projectile in the strait, with its crew safe.
Separately, Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad resigned without a stated reason, with Hamid Bovard, head of the National Iranian Oil Company, taking over as acting minister. The move comes as the seven-month war strains Iran's economy. With talks deadlocked, oil prices rising and both sides preparing for possible escalation, the outcome will shape the security of a key energy route for the global economy.