The Strait of Hormuz is going to remain closed until the United States accepts Tehran’s seven-day plan to reopen the waterway, Iran’s top negotiator and parliament speaker has said.
Iranian state-linked news agency Nournews, quoting Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, reported on Sunday that Washington made “some proposals through a mediator” days after the US replied to Iran’s diplomatic proposal.
- list 1 of 4Iraq grants Iranian airlines 40 daily Najaf flights after US exemption
- list 2 of 4Two Iranians charged over alleged plot targeting Jewish community in UK
- list 3 of 4Saudi-led coalition dismisses ‘misleading’ Houthi claim of Riyadh attack
- list 4 of 4Somalia won’t accept Israeli presence ‘under any circumstances’: President
end of list
The US should know “that the era of wasting time and dictating unilateral demands is over”, Ghalibaf said, adding Iran’s position remains “clear and definite”.
He emphasised that “the Strait of Hormuz will not open until our seven conditions based on the Islamabad memorandum are met”, and that Iran is “present on the military battlefield and will confront them with new surprises”.
He added that Iran was neither “excited” nor “intimidated” by the latest US proposals and would “both fight and negotiate”.
US President Donald Trump ruled out an Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz last week, hours after Iran put forward a roadmap to reopening the strait, through which one-fifth of global oil and natural gas is shipped during peacetime.
Last month, Trump threatened to “annihilate” Iran in his speech on the floor of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
On Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also said Iran is “serious about finding diplomatic solutions just as we are serious about defending ourselves”.
Speaking to foreign ambassadors and diplomats in Tehran, Araghchi said Iran had clearly explained its conditions for reopening the strait and that Tehran hoped Washington would choose diplomacy and accept its proposal.
Advertisement
However, Araghchi warned that if the US takes military action again, Iran is “more prepared than before and will take whatever action is necessary to defend ourselves”.
Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei added that Tehran used the UNGA platform last month to provide world leaders with its position on ending the US-Israel war on Iran.
He said the US has continued to focus on nuclear talks, while reopening the strait has been Iran’s main goal.
“We are at this stage mainly focusing on the strait, and our principal concern is to reach a solution and to have peace and stability restored within this waterway,” Baghaei said.
The Strait of Hormuz has been largely blocked and disrupted for more than seven months, since the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28, driving one of the worst maritime shipping disruptions in decades.
