US-Iran Remains Open to Negotiations After 9 Consecutive Nights of Mutual Attacks

JAKARTA - US Secretary of State Marco Rubio reiterated that Washington is "open" to negotiations.

Rubio said US officials would continue to seek long-term peace with Tehran, saying the Donald Trump administration remained open to a diplomatic solution.

"(Iranian officials) continue to send signals that they want to talk, that they want to negotiate, but it is their behavior that we respond to," said Secretary of State Rubio as quoted by CNN, Monday, July 20.

When asked whether Tehran was willing to hold talks, Rubio said he had received signals "directly" and through various channels from other countries.

A senior Iranian official expressed a similar attitude on Monday, July 20 by saying Tehran was also "open to diplomacy." Esmaeil Baghaei, spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, said the mediators remained active but the forces would extend defensive military operations as long as the attacks continued.

Both US and Iranian officials have hinted at the possibility of resuming diplomacy, even as Tehran and Washington launched deadly attacks that triggered the risk of a large-scale regional conflict - as well as the collapse of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

This happened after US President Donald Trump warned Iran to be "very tough" following the ninth night's attack launched by US forces.

The Iranian military has previously launched drone and missile attacks against Gulf and Arab countries that are US allies.