Iran has said the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the United States accepts Tehran’s seven-day plan and meets seven conditions for reopening the vital waterway.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s parliament speaker and top negotiator, said Washington had made proposals through a mediator days after responding to an Iranian diplomatic initiative.
“The Strait of Hormuz will not open until our seven conditions based on the Islamabad memorandum are met,” Mr Ghalibaf said, according to Iranian state-linked news agency Nournews.
He said the United States should understand that “the era of wasting time and dictating unilateral demands is over”, adding that Iran’s position remained “clear and definite”.
Mr Ghalibaf said Tehran was neither “excited” nor “intimidated” by the latest US proposals and would “both fight and negotiate”. He also warned that Iran was prepared to confront its opponents with “new surprises”.
Iran says diplomacy remains possible
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told foreign ambassadors and diplomats in Tehran that his country was serious about finding a diplomatic solution while also defending itself.
He said Tehran had clearly set out its conditions for reopening the strait and hoped Washington would choose diplomacy and accept the proposal. But he warned that any further US military action would be met by an Iranian response.
“We are more prepared than before and will take whatever action is necessary to defend ourselves,” Mr Araghchi said.
Esmaeil Baghaei, a spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, said the United States had continued to focus on nuclear talks while reopening the Strait of Hormuz remained Tehran’s main objective.
“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,” Mr Baghaei said.
US President Donald Trump rejected an Iranian roadmap for reopening the strait last week. The waterway carries about one-fifth of global oil and natural gas shipments during peacetime.
The Strait of Hormuz has been largely blocked and disrupted for more than seven months, since the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28, causing one of the worst maritime shipping disruptions in decades.
