‘We Never Refused to Go to Islamabad’: Iran FM Abbas Araghchi Signals Openness to Talks

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Saturday said Tehran has not refused mediation efforts, even as tensions in the region continue to escalate with fresh security incidents reported across Iran and Iraq.

In a post on X, Araghchi said, “We have never refused to go to Islamabad" (for mediation talks), adding, "what we care about are terms of conclusive and lasting end to the illegal war that is imposed on us.”

Amid the ongoing conflict, Iran has authorised the passage of vessels carrying essential goods to its ports through the Strait of Hormuz, according to a letter cited by Iran's Tasnim news agency.

The letter indicates that ships heading to Iranian ports, including those currently in the Gulf of Oman, must coordinate with authorities and comply with established protocols to transit the strait, Tasnim said.

Meanwhile, security concerns deepened in neighbouring Iraq after two drones struck the BP-operated North Rumaila oilfield in the south, wounding three Iraqi workers, according to security and energy sources.

The attack followed another drone strike targeting storage facilities west of the port city of Basra belonging to foreign oil companies.

Despite the attacks, operations at this section of the Rumaila oilfield remained unaffected as the strikes hit an equipment storage facility, two Iraqi engineers working at the site said.

Foreign staff had already been evacuated following an earlier drone strike on the oilfield last month, sources told Reuters.

What damage was caused by the projectile strike near Iran’s Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant?

In Iran, a projectile struck near the perimeter of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant on Saturday morning, resulting in the death of one member of the site’s security personnel, according to the Iranian News Agency, Tasnim.

The report said the projectile damaged an auxiliary building but did not affect the main parts of the plant, with production continuing unaffected.

The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed that it had been informed by Iran about the incident.

In a post on X, the agency said one of the site’s physical protection staff members was killed by a projectile fragment and that a building on site was affected by shockwaves and fragments.

"No increase in radiation levels was reported," the IAEA said.

Earlier on Thursday (local time), US President Donald Trump warned Iran of potential strikes on its infrastructure, including bridges and electric power plants. He said the US military "hasn't even started destroying what's left in Iran."

(With inputs from ANI)