Iran Says Hormuz Stays Shut Until US Meets Deal Conditions
Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf has said the Strait of Hormuz will remain shut until the United States meets the conditions of the interim deal signed between the two countries in June, in the clearest statement yet from Tehran about what it would take to reopen the critical waterway.
Speaking to parliament on Tuesday, Qalibaf said the conditions for reopening include the US lifting its blockade of Iranian ports, lifting oil sanctions, releasing Tehran’s frozen assets and ending threats and military operations on all fronts.
The memorandum of understanding was clinched on June 17 but quickly unravelled over a dispute about control of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas flowed before the war.
US President Donald Trump said the deal was “over” on July 7 and a week later Iran’s Foreign Ministry declared it “suspended.”
Qalibaf’s statement comes a day after Trump threatened to bomb Oman if it interfered with American efforts to reopen the strait, and as the 60-day window for negotiations under the memorandum of understanding expired on Monday without any agreement in sight.
Advertisement
Trump separately said on Monday that the US was in “total control” of the strait, a claim Iran immediately rejected.
Shipping traffic through the strait has virtually ground to a halt since the conflict began, with just 13 vessels recorded passing through over the weekend according to maritime tracking firm MarineTraffic.
Before the war, roughly a fifth of the world’s oil and gas passed through the waterway daily, making its prolonged closure one of the most significant disruptions to global energy markets in decades.