TEHRAN, July 29. /TASS/. The US authorities were the first to approach Iran with a proposal to resume negotiations and conveyed a message about the cessation of combat operations against the Islamic republic, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi has stated.

"The Americans approached us with a proposal for negotiations. In addition, through Oman, they conveyed a message to us that they would no longer take military action against us," he said on Iranian state television. According to the diplomat, Tehran had not made any requests to Washington during the last two weeks of escalation and was prepared to continue exchanging strikes.

The latest escalation of the US-Iran conflict began on July 8. For the first time since the signing of the memorandum between Washington and Tehran, the US hit the Islamic Republic several times, allegedly in response to the attack on a merchant ship in the Strait of Hormuz. On the same day, Trump ended the ceasefire with Iran. Tehran retaliated by attacking US facilities in Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE, and Oman. On July 24, the two nations ceased their exchange of strikes.