Iran condemns US, Israel for launching strikes amid negotiations

Iran on Tuesday condemned the United States and Israel for launching their latest military assaults against the country while nuclear negotiations between Tehran and Washington were still ongoing.

Speaking to reporters inside the bomb‑damaged Gandhi Hospital in northern Tehran, government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani said the attacks, carried out amid ongoing talks, exposed a lack of goodwill.

She added that what is needed now is not only a ceasefire but a mechanism to ensure such actions will not be repeated, so the diplomatic process can continue with credibility.

"This is now the second time this has happened, once again in the middle of negotiations. In the most literal sense, the negotiating table is being bombed. Therefore, any mediation that might take place must naturally be under conditions where not only a ceasefire is established, but where this process comes to a complete halt, so that we can be certain it will not be repeated again. For our people, this is an issue on which they are now demanding assurance, and we must reach that certainty," said the spokeswoman.

The Gandhi Hospital, where Tuesday's press conference took place, was severely damaged in a U.S.-Israeli strike on the night of March 1. Many patients, including newborn babies, were also killed, said Mohajerani.

"The hospital where we are now was operating with investment from the private sector and had been established as a 'hotel-hospital.' It was privately run and intended to provide services to patients. As you have surely seen in the images, many newborn babies who were in incubators were present in this hospital that night," said the spokeswoman in front of a poster showing the photos and names of children killed by the U.S. and Israeli militaries.

Mohajerani reiterated that U.S. and Israel started the war, but the Islamic Republic will end it.

The U.S.-Israeli attacks, now in their 12th day, have killed more than 1,300 people across Iran, according to the Iranian authorities.

Iran condemns US, Israel for launching strikes amid negotiations

A Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman on Friday lashed out at Japan's latest sharp increase in defense budget and planned revision of defense equipment transfer principles to allow the export of lethal weapons, urging the country to make a clean break from militarism.

It was reported that the Japanese parliament has enacted a record-high budget for fiscal year 2026, featuring a defense expenditure of 9.04 trillion yen (about 58 billion U.S. dollars), exceeding 9 trillion yen for the first time. Reports also indicate that the Japanese government is planning a significant revision to the implementation guidelines of its "Three Principles on Transfer of Defense Equipment and Technology," which will allow the export of lethal weapons.

Speaking at a press conference in Beijing, Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang, the spokesman, said in response, "Various signs have shown that the Japanese right-wing forces are stepping up efforts to push the country's security policy to shift toward a more offensive and expansionist direction. Their acts gravely violate the [1943] Cairo Declaration, the [1945] Potsdam Proclamation, the [1945] Japanese Instrument of Surrender, and other instruments with legal effect under international law, gravely go against Japan's own Constitution and existing domestic norms, and pose a serious threat to the post-war international order and regional peace and stability."

"Japanese militarism once inflicted untold suffering on the region and beyond, yet there has never been a proper reckoning with it after World War II," Zhang said.

Now, the Japanese side has completely torn off its disguise and accelerated its pace of re-militarization, which cannot but arouse strong concern and condemnation from the rest of the world, the spokesman said.

"We urge the Japanese side to stop its retrogressive moves and make a clean break from militarism. Otherwise, it will lose the trust of its Asian neighbors and the rest of the international community," he said.

China urges Japan to break away from militarism