Iran on Tuesday denounced the most recent U.S. strikes as a sign of “bad faith and unreliability” as negotiations pressed on toward a possible deal to end the war, and it began restoring internet access after one of the longest nationwide shutdowns ever. In comments carried by the Associated Press, the U.S. military characterized Monday’s strikes in southern Iran as defensive and said the operations targeted missile launch sites and minelaying boats. The U.S. military said it acted with “restraint” in light of the ceasefire that began April 7 and has largely held.
Iran’s foreign ministry said the strikes violated the ceasefire and warned that Washington would bear responsibility for “all consequences,” without further elaboration. The ministry also said, “The Islamic Republic of Iran will leave no act of aggression unanswered,” according to a statement cited by AP. It was not immediately clear from the reporting what the developments would mean for the negotiations that are still centered on a potential end to hostilities.
In parallel with the diplomatic messages, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said Tuesday that it shot down at least one drone and deterred another drone and a fighter jet that entered its airspace, according to Iran’s official Mizan news agency. Mizan did not specify when the incidents occurred, leaving open questions about timing and whether they were connected to Monday’s strikes as described by the U.S.
At the same time, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the talks on extending the ceasefire and reopening the Strait of Hormuz would “take a few days,” according to AP. State television and other Iranian state-linked media reported that Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi left Qatar, where talks had been taking place, without detailing any immediate next steps.
Iran also moved to ease the effects of its communications crackdown by starting to restore internet access after a monthslong shutdown that authorities described as a wartime necessity. AP reported that access was gradually being restored in at least some places, with state media saying fixed broadband service was back, while it remained unclear when mobile internet would be widely restored. Before the war, Iran enforced filters and policed content on platforms such as YouTube and Instagram, but AP reported that users could often bypass restrictions with cheap virtual private networks, or VPNs.
The shutdown began earlier in 2026, AP said, after authorities cut off internet access in January during massive anti-government demonstrations and later relaxed those restrictions before imposing a complete blackout following the U.S. and Israel attacks on Feb. 28. The outage, AP reported, made it difficult for Iranians outside the country to maintain contact with loved ones and disrupted online businesses, adding further pressure to an economy already battered by the conflict.
Separately from the diplomacy and internet developments, Iran carried out an execution of a man convicted of spying for Israel, the latest in more than two dozen espionage- and security-related executions since the war intensified a crackdown on dissent, according to AP. The judiciary’s news outlet Mizanonline identified the man as Gholamreza Khani Shakarab, described him as “a ringleader,” and accused him of recruiting people inside and outside Iran to work against the nation’s security for Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad. Activists and rights groups told AP that Iran routinely holds closed-door trials in which defendants are unable to challenge accusations and are often forced to confess.
AP reported that Iran’s judiciary said the country’s Supreme Court upheld Shakarab’s death sentence. In the same reporting, activists and rights groups disputed that process, saying convictions are reached in ways that do not allow defendants meaningful challenge.
The negotiations described by AP also hinge on the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway off southern Iran through which, before the war began, a fifth of the world’s crude oil and natural gas passed. Once fighting started, Iran “effectively” closed the strait, stranding hundreds of ships and disrupting energy markets and fertilizer supplies, according to AP. Iran has allowed a limited number of ships to pass and has charged tolls, and AP reported that the Revolutionary Guard navy said 25 oil tankers, container ships and other commercial vessels were allowed to pass in the previous 24 hours, citing state broadcaster IRIB.
AP noted that fertilizer shortages could worsen before the full impact becomes clear in future harvests, and it cited a warning from U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization Director-General Qu Dongyu. Qu warned at an event in Rome that the decisions being made now will determine whether the disruption “remains a manageable shock or evolves into a deeper global food security crisis in 2026 and 2027 and beyond.” AP said the strait has become a negotiating lever for Tehran alongside the long-running issue of Iran’s nuclear program and highly enriched uranium.
In that context, AP reported that Iran wants the U.S. to lift its military blockade of Iranian ports that began on April 17. The reporting also described a separate incident in the Gulf of Oman: a Tuesday explosion aboard a tanker, reported by the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations Center, with AP saying no one was injured and no immediate information on the cause.