Iran's Foreign Minister Rejects Ceasefire as U.S. Crude Surges 20% and Warship Sinking Kills 87

Iran's foreign minister delivered a defiant message to Washington on Thursday, declaring that Tehran has not sought a ceasefire and is prepared to confront American forces on the ground, even as U.S. and Israeli strikes continued to pummel Iranian military infrastructure for the sixth consecutive day.

Speaking to NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Llamas from Tehran, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi dismissed suggestions that Iran was seeking an off-ramp from the escalating conflict. "We didn't ask for a ceasefire," Araghchi said, contradicting claims from some U.S. officials. When asked if he feared a possible American ground invasion, he responded: "No, we are waiting for them. Because we are confident that we can confront them, and that would be a big disaster for them."

The interview came as financial markets registered the conflict's economic toll. U.S. crude oil prices shot up more than 8% on Thursday, briefly touching $82 per barrel—a 20% surge since Sunday and the highest level since July 2024, according to NBC News. The S&P 500 fell 0.6%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 785 points, or 1.6%, after falling more than 1,000 points during late afternoon trading.

The immediate trigger for Araghchi's remarks was the U.S. Navy's torpedo attack on the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena off Sri Lanka on Wednesday, which killed at least 87 people. It marked the first time since World War II that a U.S. submarine had struck a vessel with a torpedo in combat. Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed that three Australian personnel were aboard the attacking submarine as part of training for the AUKUS security agreement, though he insisted they "have not participated in any offensive action against Iran."

Iran has characterized the sinking as an attack on a vessel that had been participating in Indian-hosted naval exercises—a "guest," as Iranian officials put it, struck "without warning." The incident has become a rallying point for Tehran's vow that the United States will "bitterly regret" its actions, according to NBC News.

The death toll from the six-day conflict continues to mount across the region. More than 940 people have been killed by Israeli and American strikes, Iranian state media reported, while 11 have died in Israel from Iranian retaliatory attacks. Six U.S. service members have been killed, all assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command in Des Moines, Iowa. In Lebanon, Israeli strikes targeting Hezbollah have killed 77 people, NBC News reported. A dignified transfer ceremony for the American casualties is scheduled for Saturday at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.

In Washington, the Republican-led Congress handed President Donald Trump a narrow victory by blocking war powers resolutions that would have restricted his ability to continue military operations. The Senate defeated the measure 47-53, while the House rejected a similar resolution 212-219, with only two Republicans breaking ranks. House Speaker Mike Johnson insisted afterward that the U.S. is "not at war" and characterized the Iran campaign as "a limited operation" with "a very clear mission" that is "nearly accomplished by all estimates."

Araghchi's interview revealed the extent to which recent diplomatic efforts have collapsed. Just days before the strikes began, he had been engaged in talks in Geneva with Trump envoy Steve Witkoff and the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner. "We negotiated twice last year and this year, and then in the middle of negotiations, they attacked us," Araghchi told NBC. "So we see no reason why we should engage once again with those who are not honest in negotiation."

The foreign minister also addressed a controversial incident in which an elementary school in Minab was struck, reportedly killing dozens of schoolgirls. The U.S. military has said the incident is under investigation and raised the possibility that an errant Iranian munition was responsible. Araghchi rejected that explanation, claiming that Iranian authorities believe 171 schoolgirls were killed by U.S. or Israeli forces. "This is what our military said. So it is either US or Israel. What is the difference?" he said, according to the Times of India.

The conflict has created a power vacuum in Tehran following the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the initial U.S.-Israeli strikes. As ruling clerics select a new supreme leader, real authority appears to have shifted to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the heavily armed force that propped up Khamenei's regime for decades, NBC News reported.

Meanwhile, the military campaign shows no signs of slowing. Israel launched what it described as a "broad-scale wave of strikes" on infrastructure in Tehran on Thursday night, though it did not immediately report damage or casualties. The Israeli Air Force also conducted 26 strikes in Lebanon targeting Hezbollah positions in Dahiyeh, a southern suburb of Beirut. U.S. Central Command released video showing an American strike on an Iranian drone carrier—described as roughly the size of a World War II aircraft carrier—though Iran has not acknowledged the incident.

Thousands of Americans remain stranded across the Middle East amid travel chaos, prompting sharp criticism of the Trump administration's failure to plan for civilian evacuations. The State Department has arranged a charter flight to return some U.S. citizens home, but the scale of the displacement has drawn bipartisan concern on Capitol Hill.

Araghchi closed his NBC interview with a grim assessment: "There is no winner in this war. Our win is to be able to resist against the illegal goals, and this is what we have done so far." It's a sentiment that financial markets seem to share. Energy stocks were the only S&P 500 sector to gain ground Thursday, while consumer staples, materials, and industrials led the losses—a classic risk-off pattern that suggests investors are bracing for a prolonged conflict with global economic consequences.

The question now is whether either Washington or Tehran has an exit strategy, or whether both sides are committed to a war of attrition that neither can afford but neither will abandon. With oil at $82 and climbing, with Congress giving Trump a green light to continue operations, and with Iran's foreign minister openly daring the U.S. to invade, the answer appears to be the latter. The Middle East is six days into a conflict that both sides insist they are winning, even as the costs—human, economic, and strategic—mount by the hour.