Iran announced on Saturday that it has suspended all commitments under the Pakistan-brokered Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding with the United States, marking the formal collapse of the fragile arrangement that had sought to end hostilities between Washington and Tehran after last month's war. The declaration came as Iranian forces struck US-linked infrastructure across Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan for a second consecutive day, and as Washington moved additional aerial refueling assets into Israel amid reports that President Donald Trump is weighing a broader offensive against Iranian territory.
Tehran declares the MoU dead
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said Tehran considers itself no longer bound by the 14-point Islamabad MoU, arguing that the United States had already dismantled the agreement through repeated violations. "America not only violated the memorandum of understanding but also dismantled it," Gharibabadi said, according to Iran's state broadcaster IRIB. "The failure to implement one of the clauses was enough to collapse the entire memorandum of understanding, and now America has violated all of its obligations."
Speaking separately to Fars news agency, Gharibabadi said Iran had been engaged in negotiations under the framework before Washington's renewed military action rendered it moot. "We were in negotiations. Unfortunately, the Americans themselves took these aggressive actions, violating their commitments under the memorandum of understanding," he said. "Practically, America has trampled on all its commitments and suspended them all. We have also suspended all our commitments under that memorandum of understanding, known as the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, and we are not currently fulfilling those obligations."
The Islamabad MoU, signed last month under Pakistani mediation, had included provisions to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, lift the US naval blockade of Iranian shipping, and initiate a phased de-escalation following weeks of direct US-Iran fighting. Its collapse removes the last formal diplomatic framework governing the conflict.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps reinforced the message earlier Saturday, warning nations hosting American troops to expect a "corresponding response" and demanding that host governments "activate their civil defence units to protect their citizens and move them away from potential military targets." The IRGC accused regional governments of allowing their territory to be used as a launchpad for strikes on Iran.
Renewed strikes across the Gulf
The diplomatic rupture unfolded alongside a seventh consecutive night of US strikes on Iranian military and logistics targets, and a fresh Iranian retaliatory campaign against Gulf states hosting American forces. Kuwait's armed forces said they intercepted Iranian ballistic missiles and drones early Saturday, with firefighters and oil-sector workers injured while responding to strikes on a power-generation and desalination complex — the second such attack on Kuwaiti utility infrastructure in as many days. Kuwait's Foreign Ministry said the strikes constituted a systematic targeting of civilian sites that "endangers the lives and safety of civilians" and held Tehran fully responsible.
The IRGC also claimed strikes on US-linked sites in Bahrain, describing the actions as part of a "punitive response" to continued American strikes. Jordan reported intercepting missile fire directed at its territory. Regional governments — including Kuwait, Qatar and Jordan — issued formal condemnations, with Qatar's Foreign Ministry calling the strikes on Kuwaiti electricity and water facilities a violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2817 and "a clear violation of the sovereignty" of neighboring states. The Gulf Cooperation Council's Secretary-General, Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, went further, describing the attacks on Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan as war crimes and calling for those responsible to be held accountable internationally.
Iran's Health Ministry said 50 people had been killed and more than 500 injured in US strikes over the preceding three weeks, according to the semi-official ILNA news agency. Iranian state media reported that American strikes early Saturday hit bridges and a road tunnel in Hormozgan province near the Strait of Hormuz, killing three and wounding eight, following strikes a day earlier that damaged at least five bridges in the country's south.
US reinforces military posture in Israel
In parallel, Israeli media reported that the United States has confirmed it is deploying additional aerial refueling aircraft to Israeli air bases to sustain an expanded military campaign against Iran. Axios reported that Trump is weighing options that include strikes on Iranian power infrastructure, further attacks on nuclear-related sites, and a possible strike on the fortified underground facility known as Pickaxe Mountain — an option that would require substantially greater refueling capacity than the campaign conducted so far. More than 60 US tankers were already stationed at Ben Gurion and Ramon airports before the latest reinforcement, a footprint that has strained civilian flight operations and prompted friction between Israel's Transportation Ministry and its defense establishment.
Trump has reportedly told aides that he wants to see Iran's government either remain significantly weakened or collapse outright, according to Iranian and regional outlets citing US officials, with Beijing and Moscow said to lack the capacity to restore Tehran's prior position. Washington has continued to enforce a naval blockade aimed at restricting Iranian oil shipping, alongside warnings from Iranian officials that Gulf airports and ports — including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Fujairah and Jebel Ali — could face evacuation orders in the event of further American strikes on Iranian civilian infrastructure.
Economic fallout deepens
The escalation has accelerated economic deterioration inside Iran. The rial-denominated dollar rate on Iran's free market rose to roughly 193,700 tomans on Saturday, a fresh record, with the British pound and euro registering comparable gains. Iranian lawmakers have also raised alarm over a planned increase in the third-tier price of gasoline to 10,000 tomans starting in early August, a move a member of parliament's Energy Commission described as proceeding in violation of the Seventh Development Plan law. Reports from Khark Island — a key hub for Iranian oil exports — indicated that island personnel and their families received evacuation instructions on Friday, amid warnings the island could feature among potential targets in an expanded US campaign.
With the Islamabad MoU now effectively dead, both sides appear to be moving further from a negotiated off-ramp. Tehran's suspension of its own commitments removes any remaining constraint on its regional retaliation campaign, while Washington's tanker buildup in Israel signals preparation for a wider and more sustained bombing campaign rather than a return to the negotiating table. The coming days are likely to be pivotal in determining whether the conflict escalates toward the broader infrastructure and nuclear-site targeting options reportedly under consideration in Washington, or whether renewed mediation — potentially again via Islamabad, Doha or another regional intermediary — can be revived before further damage to Gulf critical infrastructure and civilian life.