Iran Says U.S. Must Meet These Six Demands If Strait of Hormuz Is to Reopen
Trump, meanwhile, has said the U.S. is currently "only semi-negotiating" with Tehran as the conflict stretches on.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced on Sunday that an agreement with Oman to establish new shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz is nearing completion. However, he stressed that Tehran's call for the U.S. to meet specific demands before fully reopening the passage remains intact. Araghchi's statement came after Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr, the outgoing secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, released a list of six conditions that the U.S. would need to fulfill in order for Tehran to permit unrestricted naval navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.
The demanded conditions include not threatening Iran, ending aggression against Iran and its allies, lifting the naval blockade and withdrawing military forces, paying compensation for the wars of aggression, lifting sanctions against the Iranian people, and releasing frozen and stolen assets. Esmail Baghaei, a spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, reiterated several of these demands during a press briefing.
He criticized the U.S. for continuing to block Iranian ports and harass Iranian ships, stating that the U.S. government has no moral or legal standing to complain about the Strait of Hormuz not being open. U.S. President Donald Trump, who did not immediately respond to Iran's demands, suggested that Washington was "low-keying it" with Tehran, stating that they were "just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact they have no money."
Former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper referred to Iran's conditions as "frankly ridiculous" during an appearance on ABC News' This Week. The agreement between Iran and Oman is part of the terms for an extended 60-day cease-fire that aimed to allow time for technical talks to take place. However, tensions between the U.S. and Iran escalated again after Trump declared the cease-fire as "over" during the NATO summit in Turkey.
Since the resumption of the Iran war, an average of 13 vessels per day have been crossing the Strait of Hormuz, compared to the 138 vessels that typically passed through the waterway before the conflict began.
Written by urgent.news from Time's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
