Lavrov in Tehran, threat to undersea cables: Iran war escalates diplomatically
Russia's foreign minister condemns the US-Israeli strikes as illegal. The Revolutionary Guards threaten undersea cables in Hormuz. Trump says Iran is being hit hard.
Archive image · Photo: Пресс-служба Госдумы РФ / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, on his first visit to Tehran since the war began, condemned the US and Israeli attacks on Iran as illegal, CBS News reported on Monday. Iran summoned Germany's ambassador the same day. Chinese Premier Li Qiang called the strikes “blatant aggression” carried out during talks and without consulting the UN Security Council.
Revolutionary Guards spokesman Brigadier-General Hossein Mohebbi threatened to target undersea communication cables in the Strait of Hormuz if US attacks disrupt Iran's regional security, Al Jazeera reported. US President Donald Trump said the United States continues to hit Iran hard “economically and militarily”. According to Al Jazeera, he praised Russian President Vladimir Putin for staying out of the conflict.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran's conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz were unchanged: under Tehran's proposal, it would reopen on the sixth day of a seven-day ceasefire if the US lifts its blockade and eases sanctions. Trump rejected the proposal in September. According to Britain's maritime monitor UKMTO, October has been the worst month for attacks on commercial shipping since March.