Iran Guards say won’t reopen Hormuz without US meeting all Tehran’s conditions
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Sunday they would not reopen the Strait of Hormuz, vital to the world economy, until the United States met Tehran’s conditions set out the day before, including compensation for war damages.
Iran has imposed an effective blockade of the strait since the United States and Israel attacked in late February, and wants to charge tolls for passage, striking ships it accuses of attempting to circumvent its preferred route.
Continued attacks in the waterway, which was free to transit before the war, led to the collapse of an April ceasefire. Mediators have urged both sides to return to the terms of asubsequent June memorandum that set out a path for peace talks.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbasover transit and management of the strait were “approaching the final stages”, but added that the reopening of Hormuz “is subject to other conditions and compensation for the violation” of the June agreement.
He denied on Sunday that Iran was negotiating with the United States, saying they were merely “exchanging messages” via intermediaries.
Iran’s security chief Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr on He also demanded the lifting of a US counterblockade of Iranian ports, the end of sanctions, the release of frozen assets and compensation for wartime damage, according to remarks reported by the Tasnim news agency.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on Sunday said their strategy was to maintain the closure “until the enemy accepts all our conditions… the strait is now actually a theatre of war for us and not just a waterway”.The comments came as transit through Hormuz has dropped significantly, with Iran targeting ships it accuses of skirting its preferred route through Iranian waters.
The United Arab Emirates’ foreign ministry on Saturday condemned what it called a “hostile Iranian attack that targeted a tanker belonging to ADNOC (Abu Dhabi National Oil Company) with a missile while it was transiting the Strait of Hormuz, without causing casualties”.
Later on Saturday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said a ship was hit by a projectile off Oman in the Strait of fire that was extinguished but no casualties. It was unclear whether they were referring to the same ship.
Oman’s foreign ministry on Saturday condemned “repeated attacks on vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz”, without naming Iran.
It also said that “ongoing negotiations regarding navigation arrangements in the Strait of Hormuz are proceeding in a positive and constructive atmosphere”, and urged against any actions that might jeopardise progress.