Iran said diplomacy remained active and contacts with mediators including Pakistan were continuing, even as it accused the US of wrecking the ceasefire agreement, foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on July 13.

The remarks, at Baghaei's weekly press conference, confirms that Tehran is keeping a channel open despite a weekend of strikes across the Gulf and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, while placing responsibility for the breakdown on Washington.

The two sides are near the midway point of a 60-day interim memorandum signed in June, meant to set up talks for a permanent end to the war that began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28.

Baghaei said contacts were continuing through mediators. "Diplomacy as an instrument cannot be suspended," he said. "Mediators' work is to continue their good offices to prevent an escalation of tension. We have held meetings with Qatar and Oman on many of these days, and contacts with Pakistan are continuing."

He said Iran would use whichever instrument circumstances required. "Wherever it is warranted we use the instrument of war, and wherever it is warranted we use the instrument of diplomacy," Baghaei said, adding that Iranians viewed diplomacy as a tool and had a bitter experience of the US.

On the future of the memorandum, Baghaei said the process had entered a crisis but that Iran had never been the first to breach its commitments. "The side that broke its word is America," he said. "They were so impatient that they did not allow the one-month period in clause five on the Strait of Hormuz to run its course. From the very first days they began backtracking. The Americans in effect mutilated the 14 clauses of the memorandum." He said Iran's compliance was conditional: "Wherever the other side violated, we too did not implement. No one can accuse Iran of breaking its word."

On the Muscat talks with Oman, Baghaei said July 11 discussions had focused solely on the strait and that pressure on Oman had prevented agreement on a mechanism for safe passage. "Our effort was to reach a mechanism, in consultation with Oman, for the safe passage of ships. Due to pressures on Oman, this was not achieved," he said. As a coastal state, Iran had the right to protect its interests, he added: "We will not allow America and the Israeli regime to use the strait to harm Iran."

Baghaei rejected US interpretations of clause five, which governs passage through Hormuz. "Interpretation against the explicit text is not permissible," he said. "We tried to make this text so precise that it would leave no room for interpretation."

On Iran's strikes across the Gulf, Baghaei said Iran had not attacked any regional country. "Iran's strikes are solely against US bases and facilities used to attack Iran," he said. "We have repeatedly asked the countries of the region not to allow America and the Israeli regime to use their soil. Any part of the region used for aggression against Iran will be subject to Iran's defensive measures."

Baghaei dismissed a statement by three European countries on the strait as lacking standing, arguing that events stemmed from US and Israeli aggression, and said Europe had done nothing "due to its habit of submission to America." Responding to Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, who had compared Iran's actions to Israel's, Baghaei called the comparison astonishing and said Iran had no proxies in the region.

Baghaei said Iran had rejected a request by the International Atomic Energy Agency for inspections, answering "no" when asked whether Iran had agreed. On reports of the rebuilding of nuclear facilities, he said he had not seen the satellite images and could not comment. He dismissed US claims that Iran had sought a new round of talks as a psychological game.

Baghaei also said a visit by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to Tehran was being planned, and that Iran's consular deputy foreign minister was visiting Kabul for talks with Afghanistan on consular and people-to-people cooperation.