April 23: Iran's united leadership rebuffs US provocations as truce violations persist

By Press TV Website Staff

Iran’s top leadership delivered a unified and powerful response to Washington on Thursday, dismissing US President Donald Trump’s latest war rhetoric as a desperate attempt to sow division after facing the military and strategic defeat.

President Masoud Pezeshkian, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, and Judiciary Chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei underscored that it is the United States, not Iran, that stands isolated after weeks of unlawful blockade, maritime piracy, and military threats.

As Iranian institutions expose the humanitarian fallout of US-Israeli aggression, reinforce control over regional waterways, and challenge Washington’s narratives at the UN, analysts now say the US pressure campaign is fraying even within the American military hierarchy.

Key developments on day 55 of the war, the sixteenth day of the ceasefire:

• Pezeshkian, Qalibaf, and Ejei issued a collective response to US President Donald Trump, denouncing his rhetoric about “divisions between extremists and moderates” in Iran as unwarranted provocations.
• Pezeshkian said the Islamic Republic of Iran has welcomed dialogue and agreement. Still, Washington’s constant breach of commitments, naval blockade and military threats remain the main obstacles to genuine negotiations.
• The judiciary chief said the speedboats and Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs) of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) are waiting for intruding US vessels to fully destroy them.
• Brigadier General Hassan Hassanzadeh, a senior commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), affirmed Iran’s robust security posture, asserting that Iranian armed forces stand ready to confront any threats and deliver significant blows to adversaries should further mistakes occur.
• The Iranian Red Crescent Society said a commercial vessel pirated by US forces near Iran's coastline in the Sea of Oman was carrying vital raw materials needed to produce medical supplies for kidney dialysis patients, warning that disruption of the shipment could threaten lives.
• Iran's central bank confirmed the successful deposit of revenue from newly established transit fees for ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, ending media speculation about the currency involved.
• Iran’s Minister of Agriculture Gholamreza Nouri underscored the detrimental impact of US aggression on food security across the globe, noting that it poses a significant obstacle to the realisation of the objective of "zero hunger."
• Iranian Vice President for Science, Technology and Knowledge-Based Economy Affairs Hossein Afshin said the country will pursue in international forums the attacks on scientific centres by the US and the Israeli regime.
• The Iranian ambassador to the United Nations, Amir-Saeid Iravani, strongly protested over the US’s misuse of the airspace and territory of five Persian Gulf Arab countries for illegal strikes on the Islamic Republic during the war. 
• Iravani said the US-Israeli attacks on the country’s civilian space and communications infrastructure during the imposed war are tantamount to “acts of state terrorism.”
• The spokesperson for Iran's foreign ministry, Esmaeil Baghaei, said the narrative about an Iranian nuclear bomb has been used to frighten the world for more than two decades, describing it as a political fabrication designed to exert pressure.
• Iran continues to maintain substantial military capabilities, despite weeks of US and Israeli strikes, according to multiple US officials familiar with intelligence assessments.
• Israeli air attacks in southern Lebanon killed at least five people, including Amal Khalil, a correspondent for the Al Akhbar newspaper, and wounded freelance journalist Zeinab Faraj on Wednesday despite an ongoing ceasefire.
• Israeli military prosecutors are preparing to file espionage charges against two Israeli air force soldiers accused of collaborating with Iranian intelligence, Israeli media reported.
• The White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said Trump "has not set a firm deadline to receive an Iranian proposal… he will dictate the timeline.”
• US War Secretary Pete Hegseth fired Navy Secretary John Phelan, marking the 34th senior official removed under the Trump administration, amid reported top-level opposition to Washington's unprovoked aggression against Iran.
• The US Senate voted 55-46 to defeat a measure led by Tammy Baldwin, a Democratic senator from Wisconsin, to curb Trump’s authority to wage an illegal war on Iran, marking the fifth such failed attempt.
• The US military’s Central Command said it has turned back 31 vessels, mostly oil tankers, as part of its “naval blockade.”
• The US Department of Defence said its forces boarded a vessel in the Indian Ocean.
• The United States suspended arms deliveries to NATO ally Estonia as its aggression on Iran has put a major strain on US weapons stockpiles.

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