A senior Iranian official told MSNOW on Monday that Iran will reopen the Strait of Hormuz only if the United States meets all of the conditions that Tehran contends are in the June memorandum of understanding between the two countries.
The Iranian official, who spoke one the condition of anonymity to describe closed-door discussions, said those conditions include unfreezing Iranian funds and assets and the end of fighting in Lebanon. The Iranian official said the U.S. is to blame for the closure of the strait because it has failed to fully implement the memorandum.
When the memorandum was signed in June, experts warned that some of its wording was vague and could be interpreted differently by Iranian and American officials.
Iran began threatening ships in the Strait of Hormuz — a crucial global oil choke point — soon after the war began at the end of February. Commercial shipping through the waterway has all but shut down. Since then, oil and gas prices have skyrocketed, at times above $100 a barrel, hiking the costs of gas and other goods. On Monday, the price of global benchmark Brent crude hit $86 a barrel. The price of West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, was above $80 a barrel.
Israel began launching strikes on Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon in early March. Iran has cited ending that conflict as a condition for reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei on Monday said that lifting the U.S. naval blockade of key Iranian ports was one of the conditions for reopening the strait. “It is up to the U.S. side to stop and make amends for its illegal and destructive actions,” he said.
Last week, Iran and Oman agreed to a framework for temporarily reopening the waterway, according to two Middle East diplomats with knowledge of the negotiations. An Iranian government official linked to the agreement said commercial ships will be able to transit the Persian Gulf through Iranian- and Omani-controlled routes.
But those talks have stalled over details, and the strait remains essentially closed.
President Donald Trump has not said whether he would support the deal. “Any temporary routes will be without any impediments — meaning no approvals or permissions and no tolls or charges,” a U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk about the agreement, told MS NOW. “The Strait of Hormuz is an international waterway, and no party controls the lanes or the ability to transit through them.”
In an interview with Axios last week, Trump said the U.S. is “low-keying” its talks with Iran. “We are only semi-negotiating with them,” Trump said. “We are just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact they have no money.”
The post Iran says U.S. must meet all conditions before Strait of Hormuz can reopen appeared first on MS NOW.
