Iran's top security official said Tehran will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until the United States changes its conduct, demanding compensation for war damage, a troop withdrawal and an end to sanctions. The warning lands as Iranian diplomats say a provisional shipping arrangement with Oman is close, and as the UAE reports a fresh missile strike on one of its tankers.
Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said on Saturday that the US must withdraw its forces from the vicinity of the republic, pay Tehran compensation for war damage and lift its sanctions before Hormuz reopens. He also called on Washington to permanently end its war against the Islamic republic and lift its blockade of Iranian ports.
His comments mark a hardening in tone after Iranian diplomats said earlier in the week they were in the final stages of a provisional arrangement with Oman on shipping through the strait. Zolghadr is considered a hardliner, and unconfirmed reports in Iranian media this week suggested he had resigned.
Security council still holds the final word
Any deal on the strait still needs approval from the security council and Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader. President Masoud Pezeshkian, a reformist who chairs the security council, has pushed for the Oman deal, arguing it is the best time to reach an agreement given the country's current unity.
According to the Financial Times: "We cannot fight forever. It has to be brought to an end at some point." But General Hossein Mohebbi, a spokesman for Iran's Revolutionary Guards, said Saturday that reopening Hormuz still depends on the US accepting Iran's conditions, calling the strait a matter of the country's strategic power rather than simply an economic waterway.
Deal with Oman still elusive
The strait carried about a fifth of the world's oil and gas before the war and has become the main battleground between Washington and Tehran, with President Trump pushing to fully reopen it ahead of November's midterm elections. A June memorandum of understanding meant to extend the ceasefire and gradually restore toll-free shipping collapsed after Iran targeted vessels using what it called an unauthorized route along Oman's coast, triggering tit-for-tat strikes.
Iran and Oman have since agreed on the geographical coordinates for a temporary shipping route, but there has been no sign of progress since Wednesday, when officials said a joint statement was in its final stages. Foreign minister Abbas Araghchi repeated Saturday that Tehran and Muscat remain very close to a deal, though he tied reopening to the US compensating for its violations of the memorandum. One person briefed on the talks said a reopening would see the US lift its naval blockade and reinstate a waiver allowing Tehran to sell oil.
Tankers keep getting hit
The UAE said an Iranian missile targeted one of its tankers transiting the strait on Saturday, the fourth such assault on its vessels this week. State-owned ADNOC said Friday that 15 of its vessels had been targeted in the strait since the US and Israel launched the war against Iran in February, including three in the past week.
Source: Financial Times
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