Iran Calls US Strikes 'Gross Violation' as Doha Talks Continue

Iran’s foreign ministry on Tuesday accused the United States of a “gross violation” of the ceasefire between the two countries after US Central Command strikes near Bandar Abbas on Monday, even as Iranian and Qatari negotiators continued mediation talks in Doha aimed at locking in a broader agreement.

The contradiction sat at the center of the day’s events: kinetic action in the Persian Gulf and diplomatic mediation in Qatar moved forward at the same hour, in parallel, with neither side treating either track as foreclosed.

In a statement carried by Iranian state media, the foreign ministry said Tehran “will not leave any act of mischief unanswered,” according to Middle East Eye’s live coverage. The ministry framed the strikes as a unilateral US breach of the truce that has held in form, if not always in practice, since the spring escalation.

US Central Command described Monday’s action in different terms. In its public posture, CENTCOM called the strikes “self-defense” measures against small boats attempting to lay mines in the approaches to the Strait of Hormuz and against missile launch sites positioned along the southern Iranian coast, according to a summary in OilPrice. That framing matches Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s public line earlier this week that the strait will reopen “one way or the other.”

A new explosion in the Gulf of Oman

The picture grew more complicated Tuesday morning when the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) center reported an “external explosion” near a commercial vessel approximately 60 nautical miles off the coast of Oman, per Middle East Eye. UKMTO did not attribute the incident, and as of midday no party had publicly claimed responsibility. The location places the event well outside the Strait of Hormuz proper but inside the corridor used by tankers exiting the Gulf.

The report added a layer of uncertainty to shipping insurance and routing decisions that had begun to stabilize after the weekend’s diplomatic signals.

Markets split

Oil markets reacted with an unusual divergence. Brent crude rose Tuesday while West Texas Intermediate declined — a split that, according to OilPrice analysis, reflected traders pricing the two contracts against different risks. Brent, the global benchmark, tracked the renewed Gulf incidents and the UKMTO report. WTI, more closely tied to North American supply and demand, drifted lower on the same peace-deal optimism that has whipsawed prices for a week.

The July WTI contract fell after President Donald Trump told reporters that negotiations with Tehran were “proceeding nicely,” MarketWatch reported. Trump did not provide details of the negotiating position, and the White House has not released a readout of the Doha track.

Israeli opposition pushes back

Inside Israel, opposition leader Yair Lapid criticized the contours of the emerging US-Iran understanding, calling the deal a “disaster” and accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of what Middle East Monitor described as “repeated failures” in handling the file. Lapid’s intervention reflected a domestic Israeli debate that has split along familiar lines: hawks who see any negotiated outcome as concessionary, and centrists who view a verified US-Iran framework as preferable to open-ended strikes.

Netanyahu’s office did not respond publicly to Lapid’s remarks Tuesday.

Qatar denies $12 billion offer

A separate flank of the Doha story drew an unusual on-the-record denial. Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari rejected reports that Doha had floated a $12 billion offer to Iran to secure a US agreement, according to Middle East Monitor. Al Ansari did not detail what financial elements, if any, are on the table — only that the specific figure circulating in regional outlets was inaccurate.

Qatar has acted as the primary channel between Washington and Tehran throughout the current cycle, a role it also played during earlier Gaza negotiations.

Two tracks, one decision point

The structural feature of the day — strikes and talks at the same time — is consistent with the pattern Tehran has signaled for the past 48 hours: negotiate where useful, retaliate where possible, and avoid foreclosing either option. Washington’s posture mirrors it from the other side, with CENTCOM treating mine-laying and launcher activity as standing targets and the State Department treating the Doha channel as live.

Whether the parallel tracks converge or collide is likely to be decided this week. Iran’s foreign ministry has not specified what form a response to Monday’s strikes would take, and the administration has said an Iran deal is not imminent even as the Doha mediation continues. Markets, shippers, and regional capitals are pricing both outcomes simultaneously.

For now, the ceasefire holds in name. The mines, the strikes, and the talks are all real at the same time.