Iran’s Revolutionary Guards spokesperson Hossein Mohibi said the Strait of Hormuz would not reopen until the United States accepted Tehran’s terms and returned to the agreement previously reached between the two countries.
Mohibi made the remarks at a press conference in Iran’s central Isfahan province. He said the strait could be reopened within the framework of the understanding reached if the United States stopped obstructing the process and returned to the agreement, adding that it would remain closed under all circumstances otherwise.
He said the strait was under Iran’s control
Mohibi claimed that the strait was under Iran’s control and that no enemy military vessels were currently in its waters. He said all hostile vessels were at least 400 kilometers from the strait and stated that no ship could pass through the waterway without Tehran’s explicit permission.
Iran-Oman talks
Mohibi said Iran had begun talks with Oman about a month earlier and that the two sides had reached understandings acceptable to both. He said the talks had produced agreements on the two countries’ respective shares of the strait’s waters and on the distribution of transit revenues generated by the waterway.
The Iranian spokesperson accused Washington of obstructing the process and claimed that its stance had delayed an agreement.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi also announced on Tuesday that Iran and Oman had agreed on a temporary, 7-mile-wide transit route in the Strait of Hormuz. Gharibabadi said the arrangement did not mean that the strait had reopened.
New talks to be held on a permanent route
Gharibabadi said new talks would be held to determine a permanent route and that reopening the strait would depend on Washington fulfilling its commitments under the Islamabad agreement.
Iran and the United States signed a 14-point agreement in Islamabad in mid-June, with Pakistan and Qatar acting as mediators. The agreement included provisions on ending the conflicts, reopening the strait, lifting the US naval blockade and launching a 60-day negotiation process.
Tehran maintains that Washington has not implemented key provisions of the agreement and says the full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz depends on the United States fulfilling its commitments.
