In this Monday, May 20, 2019 photo, released by U.S. Navy, an F/A-18E Super Hornet from the "Jolly Rogers" of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 103 launches from the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) on Arabian Sea. (Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jeff Sherman/U.S. Navy via AP)
The Associated Press
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - The Latest on increased tensions between the U.S. and Iran (all times local):
10:55 p.m.
As tensions with the U.S. mount, Iran's supreme leader has said the country's president and foreign minister didn't act as he wished in implementing the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
The comments Wednesday night, posted on Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's official website, are the first time he's blamed both President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif by name in his concerns about the deal.
Khamenei said: "In some extent, I did not believe in the way that the nuclear deal was implemented. Many times I reminded both the president and the foreign minister."
Khamenei has final say on all matters of state. His remarks show the internal pressure both Rouhani and Zarif now face amid the U.S. tensions.
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1 p.m.
A prominent reformist lawmaker in Iran has reportedly said the Islamic Republic "under no circumstance" will enter a war with the U.S., either directly or through proxy forces.
Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh's comments on Wednesday, reported by the semi-official ILNA news agency, come amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington a year after President Donald Trump pulled America from Iran's nuclear deal with world powers.
Falahatpisheh was quoted as saying that "under no circumstance will we enter a war."
He added: "No group can announce that it has entered a proxy war from Iran's side."
That comes as Yemen's Iranian-allied Houthi rebels have launched drone attacks on Saudi Arabia amid the heightened tensions. The United Arab Emirates also says four oil tankers off its eastern coast were sabotaged.
In this Monday, May 20, 2019 photo, an F/A-18E Super Hornet from the ìFist of the Fleetî of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 25 lands on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea. (Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jeff Sherman/U.S. Navy via AP)
The Associated Press
In this Sunday, May 19, 2019 photo, an MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter transports cargo from the fast combat support ship USNS Arctic to the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln during a replenishment-at-sea operation in the Arabian Sea, as Mideast tensions remain high between Tehran and the United States. (Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Darion Chanelle Triplett/U.S. Navy via AP)
The Associated Press
In this Monday, May 20, 2019 photo, released by U.S. Navy, an E-2D Hawkeye from the "Bluetails" of Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron (VAW) 121 lands on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) on Arabian Sea. (Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jeff Sherman/U.S. Navy via AP)
The Associated Press
In this Saturday May 18, 2019, photo, two U.S. F/A-18E Super Hornets fly alongside two AV-8B Harrier over the Arabian Sea. The Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group and Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group are conducting joint operations in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations, as Mideast tensions remain high between Tehran and the United States. (Lt. Logan Holshey/US Navy via AP)
The Associated Press