Washington, DC [US], November 2 (ANI): US Central Command on Monday forcefully refuted Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi's statement that Tehran has not targeted civilians in neighbouring countries, accusing Iran of intentionally striking civilian infrastructure and killing more than 20 seafarers in recent months.

In a fact-check posted on X, CENTCOM explicitly labelled the Iranian leadership's public assertions as false, pointing to intentional strikes on both land-based civilian targets and commercial shipping lanes.

'CLAIM: Iran's foreign minister recently claimed publicly that Iran has not attacked civilians in neighbouring countries. This is FALSE,' CENTCOM stated.

'FACT: Iran has not only intentionally attacked civilian infrastructure, neighbourhoods, and other facilities in neighbouring Gulf countries, but it has also deliberately attacked civilian mariners at sea - killing more than 20 in recent months,' the US military command asserted. 'Iran's indiscriminate aggression is clearly evident and inexcusable.'

https://x.com/CENTCOM/status/2117063401599873414?s=20

The sharp exchange comes as maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz and the wider Gulf region remains severely disrupted.

Earlier in the day, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said that the responsibility for advancing negotiations now lies entirely with Washington, emphasising that Iran's logical demand, starting with an end to the US naval blockade, must be met before the Strait of Hormuz can be reopened or secured.

'The ball is in America's court; because our demands have been stated very clearly and transparently, and Iran's demands are reasonable and logical,' Baghaei said during a press briefing. 'No final agreement can be initiated and the Strait of Hormuz cannot be opened or secured unless the US naval blockade is ended, Iran's demands are met, and Iran's legitimate demands are implemented. After that, we can discuss the continuation of the process.'

He warned that Washington has a track record of undermining diplomatic efforts rather than initiating them.

'So far, the US has shown that it not only lacks initiative in the field of diplomacy, but also destroys diplomatic initiatives,' Baghaei added. 'In the past two years, the US has only beaten the drum of war, and whenever a path for diplomacy has been opened, or during that process, it has disrupted the process.'

Baghaei referenced previous diplomatic attempts, pointing out that even after agreements were reached-such as the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding-they were unravelled shortly after.

'Incidentally, the senior negotiator in the Islamabad process was the same writer of the letter, and we saw that the US President recently also announced that that process was a waste of time in our opinion,' he said. 'That said, any diplomatic process should definitely be approached with great caution.'

Despite past setbacks, the spokesperson affirmed that Tehran's core proposal remains available for negotiation via regional intermediaries, provided Washington acts in good faith.

Baghaei added that Iran has officially conveyed its conditions to the US through Qatari-mediated talks in Doha, stressing that the exchange of messages remains active despite growing regional complexity.

This comes as The Wall Street Journal reported that an American delegation is expected to join Iranian officials for talks in Doha; he said that Qatar has proposed to reduce the implementation period of Iran's plan to open the strategic waterway, the Strait of Hormuz, to two days as compared to five. (ANI)