Iran Says Trump’s Call for Peace ‘At Odds’ with US Actions 

An Iranian woman walks past a map of Iran in Tehran on October 13, 2025. (AFP)
An Iranian woman walks past a map of Iran in Tehran on October 13, 2025. (AFP)
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Iran Says Trump’s Call for Peace ‘At Odds’ with US Actions 

An Iranian woman walks past a map of Iran in Tehran on October 13, 2025. (AFP)
An Iranian woman walks past a map of Iran in Tehran on October 13, 2025. (AFP)

Iran said on Tuesday that US President Donald Trump's call for a peace deal with Tehran was inconsistent with Washington's actions, referring to its strikes on Iranian nuclear sites in June.

"The desire for peace and dialogue expressed by the US president is at odds with the hostile and criminal behavior of the United States towards the Iranian people," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

In mid-June, Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign on Iran, striking nuclear and military facilities as well as residential areas and killing more than 1,000 people.

The 12-day war with Israel, during which the US struck the key nuclear facilities in Iran, derailed high-level nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington.

Iran retaliated with missile and drone attacks that killed dozens in Israel. A ceasefire between Iran and Israel has been in place since June 24.

During a Monday speech at the Israeli Knesset, Trump said he wanted a peace deal with Iran and that the ball was in Tehran's court for any agreement to come to pass.

In its statement, Iran dismissed the call.

"How can one attack the residential areas and nuclear facilities of a country in the midst of political negotiations, kill more than 1,000 people including innocent women and children, and then demand peace and friendship?" the foreign ministry asked.

Trump also said "nothing would do more good" for the region than for Iran's leaders "to renounce terrorists, stop threatening their neighbors, quit funding their militant proxies, and finally recognize Israel's right to exist".

Tehran struck back, calling the remarks "irresponsible and shameful" and accusing the United States of being "a leading producer of terrorism and a supporter of the terrorist and genocidal Zionist regime".

"The United States... has no moral authority to accuse others," Iran's foreign ministry said.



Australia, Japan Sign Contracts to Start $7 Billion Warship Deal

Australia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense Richard Marles (R) listens to Japan's Minister of Defense Koizumi Shinjiro (L) during a Defense Ministers' Meeting at the Commonwealth Parliament Offices in Melbourne on April 18, 2026. (Photo by William WEST / AFP)
Australia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense Richard Marles (R) listens to Japan's Minister of Defense Koizumi Shinjiro (L) during a Defense Ministers' Meeting at the Commonwealth Parliament Offices in Melbourne on April 18, 2026. (Photo by William WEST / AFP)
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Australia, Japan Sign Contracts to Start $7 Billion Warship Deal

Australia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense Richard Marles (R) listens to Japan's Minister of Defense Koizumi Shinjiro (L) during a Defense Ministers' Meeting at the Commonwealth Parliament Offices in Melbourne on April 18, 2026. (Photo by William WEST / AFP)
Australia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense Richard Marles (R) listens to Japan's Minister of Defense Koizumi Shinjiro (L) during a Defense Ministers' Meeting at the Commonwealth Parliament Offices in Melbourne on April 18, 2026. (Photo by William WEST / AFP)

Australia and Japan signed contracts on Saturday launching their landmark A$10 billion ($7 billion) deal to supply Australia with warships, Tokyo's most consequential military sale since ending a military export ban in 2014.

Defense Ministers Richard Marles and Shinjiro Koizumi signed a memorandum "reaffirming the Australian and Japanese governments' shared commitment to the successful delivery" of the warships, Marles said in a statement.

The deal struck in ⁠August anchors Japan's ⁠push away from its postwar pacifism to forge security ties beyond its alliance with the US to counter China.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is to supply the Royal Australian Navy with three upgraded Mogami-class ⁠multi-role frigates built in Japan from 2029. Eight more frigates will be built in Australia.

Japan's Defense Ministry posted on X that Koizumi and Marles welcomed the "conclusion of contracts for General Purpose Frigates, and confirmed to further strengthen bilateral defense ties" in the signing in Melbourne.

Contracts were signed for the first three frigates, to be built ⁠in ⁠Japan, before there is a "transition to an onshore build" at the Henderson shipyard near Perth in Western Australia, Reuters quoted Marles as saying.

Australia plans to deploy the ships - designed to hunt submarines, strike surface ships and provide air defense - to defend critical maritime trade routes and its northern approaches in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, where China's military footprint is expanding.


Iran Partially Reopens Airspace

FILE - Two police officers walk in front of an anti-US billboard in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, April 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
FILE - Two police officers walk in front of an anti-US billboard in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, April 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
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Iran Partially Reopens Airspace

FILE - Two police officers walk in front of an anti-US billboard in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, April 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
FILE - Two police officers walk in front of an anti-US billboard in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, April 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)

Iran partially reopened its airspace on Saturday to international flights crossing the eastern part of its territory, the country's Civil Aviation Authority said.

"Air routes in the eastern section of the country's airspace are open for international flights transiting through Iran," it said, adding that some airports had also reopened at 7:00 am (0330 GMT).

More than three hours later, however, flight tracker websites still showed no international flights crossing Iran, and several avoiding its airspace by making long detours.


Trump Hints at Resuming Attacks if Ceasefire with Iran Expires Without Deal

IN FLIGHT - APRIL 17: US President Donald Trump speaks to members of the press aboard Air Force One on April 17, 2026 just prior to landing at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. (Photo by WIN MCNAMEE / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
IN FLIGHT - APRIL 17: US President Donald Trump speaks to members of the press aboard Air Force One on April 17, 2026 just prior to landing at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. (Photo by WIN MCNAMEE / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
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Trump Hints at Resuming Attacks if Ceasefire with Iran Expires Without Deal

IN FLIGHT - APRIL 17: US President Donald Trump speaks to members of the press aboard Air Force One on April 17, 2026 just prior to landing at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. (Photo by WIN MCNAMEE / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
IN FLIGHT - APRIL 17: US President Donald Trump speaks to members of the press aboard Air Force One on April 17, 2026 just prior to landing at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. (Photo by WIN MCNAMEE / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

US President Donald Trump said the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz will remain and attacks will resume if no agreement is reached with Iran, after Tehran said it had fully reopened the strait to commercial vessels but threatened to close it again over the US blockade.

Asked by a reporter Friday night what he will do if there’s no deal when a ceasefire with Iran expires next week, Trump said, “I don’t know. Maybe I won’t extend it, but the blockade is going to remain. But maybe I won’t extend it, so you’ll have a blockade and unfortunately we’ll have to start dropping bombs again.”

However, Trump also told reporters accompanying him aboard Air Force One to Washington that, “I think it’s going to happen,” referring to a deal.

Questions lingered Saturday about how much freedom ships actually had to transit the waterway as Tehran threatened to close it again if the US kept in place its blockade of Iranian ships and ports.

Iran’s Friday announcement about the opening of the crucial body of water, through which 20% of the world’s oil is shipped, came as a 10-day truce between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon appeared to hold.

The war with Iran, which began on February 28 with a US-Israeli attack, has killed thousands and sent oil prices surging because of the de facto closure of ⁠the strait.

Trump has told Reuters there would probably be more direct talks between Iran and the US this weekend. Some diplomats said that was unlikely given the logistics of gathering in Islamabad, where the talks are expected to take place.

There were no signs of preparations early on Saturday for talks in the Pakistani capital.