Iranian state and semi-official media spent the past twelve hours hammering a unified message: Tehran alone governs the Strait of Hormuz, the United States is the party violating the mid-June memorandum of understanding, and Iran's response to further strikes will widen rather than soften.
The dominant story across outlets was Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi's press conference in Baghdad. Press TV led with his assertion that only Iran is responsible for reopening the strait under the Tehran–Washington MoU, and that any foreign interference will complicate the process. State-aligned coverage framed his 30-day timeline explicitly, reporting his claim that the waterway would return to pre-war capacity within 30 days under Iran's exclusive management once obstacles are removed. Outlets carrying his remarks stressed his warning that any external interference could hinder normal shipping and further escalate regional tensions.
The Lebanon file was woven into the same coverage. Iranian reporting emphasized Araghchi's position that the MoU requires an end to hostilities on all fronts including Lebanon, and that responsibility for ensuring Israel's withdrawal rests with the United States. Press TV also amplified his push for a new Gulf security architecture, reporting that he called for collective regional security based on trust and warned that US and Israeli ceasefire violations threaten stability in West Asia, while backing an Iraqi "6+2" dialogue proposal that would exclude outside powers.
On the military track, the messaging was sharper. Citing the semi-official Tasnim agency, coverage reported the IRGC's warning that any violation of the ceasefire would result in the suspension of all related processes. Press TV carried a fresh warning from IRGC spokesman Hossein Mohebi of a stronger response to any US or Israeli ceasefire violations. Earlier IRGC language remained in circulation: via Fars, the Guards' navy command said American forces "will experience hell in these coming days", while Mehr News quoted the IRGC's claim that Washington had provoked others to breach the deal and that in the event of repeated aggression its response would be broader. The state-run IRNA agency described Iran's weekend strikes simply as hitting locations of "the US terrorist army in the region."
Iranian outlets uniformly characterized the conflict as an illegal US-Israeli war of aggression that began on February 28, and cast the latest American strikes as the breach. Coverage relayed the Foreign Ministry's condemnation of the strikes as "brutal attacks" violating both the MoU and the UN charter, arguing Washington places no value on its commitments. Parliamentary national security commission chair Ebrahim Azizi reinforced the line, writing that the strait is governed by Iran and that Thursday's action amounted to "ceasefire management" rather than a breach.
State television kept the leverage point front and center, stating that passage through Hormuz still required coordination with Iran. An official from the Supreme Leader's office, Mehdi Fazaeili, told state TV that Tehran was still assessing whether Washington had fulfilled its obligations, explaining Iran's absence from Sunday's technical talks.
Notably, even as US officials signaled de-escalation—an American source told RFE/RL that both sides would stand down and vessels could move freely, with talks slated to resume—Iranian media maintained its defiant register, foregrounding sovereignty, deterrence, and the claim that the US, not Iran, has destabilized the truce.