Iran says Strait of Hormuz will not reopen until conditions are met

The Strait of Hormuz will not reopen until seven Iranian conditions set out in a June interim agreement with the U.S. are met, state media reported Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf as saying on Sunday.

"The Americans, who speak differently in the media, have recently presented proposals through a mediator. But they must understand that the era when they could drag things out and impose unilateral demands is over," Ghalibaf said."The position of the Islamic Republic of Iran is completely clear and firm, and the Strait of Hormuz will not be opened until our seven conditions, based on the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, are met," Qalibaf, who is Iran's top negotiator, was quoted as saying.

Qalibaf did not detail the conditions on Sunday. Iran had presented a proposal during the U.N. General Assembly under which the Strait of Hormuz waterway could be reopened and normal maritime passage restored within seven days if the conditions were met. President Donald Trump rejected this proposal but left the door open to continuing indirect negotiations, without ruling out a possible resumption of hostilities. At the same time, Washington has stepped up its economic war against Tehran, imposing new sanctions on its aviation sector. On the ground, there has been a lull in recent weeks: the United States has not struck Iran since September 1, even as ships remain regular targets in the Strait of Hormuz. The memorandum of understanding reached in June between Tehran and Washington, which contained 14 points, includes ending military operations, including in Lebanon, lifting the naval blockade on Iranian ports and sanctions on oil exports, as well as unfreezing at least $12 billion in frozen Iranian funds.

He said Washington "must understand that the period of dragging out the [diplomatic] process and dictating one-sided demands is over."

Iran says no nuclear discussions

A Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Sunday that Tehran had clarified its broad positions via mediators to the U.S. response but that additional points remained to be communicated to Washington.

"The Americans' propositions are more or less in line with their previous positions, specifically on the nuclear issue. We told them our focus in this stage is the issue of the Strait of Hormuz and the return to security in this waterway requires clear steps from the U.S.," spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said.

He also denied Tehran had offered U.N. nuclear watchdog inspections of its nuclear facilities in exchange for U.S. sanctions relief, saying Iran had not entered into nuclear discussions with Washington.

The document being circulated outlines a seven-day period of trust-building aimed at returning the two sides to an enhanced version of the memorandum of understanding agreed in June, including concrete steps on Iran's nuclear program, an official briefed on the talks said last week.

The disagreement centers on the sequencing of the steps rather than the components of the plan, the official added.

Warning from Araghchi

Qatar has been shuttling messages between Washington and Tehran in an effort to end the conflict and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the conduit for a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas before the war that began at the end of February with U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran.

The June memorandum of understanding led to a brief ceasefire and included provisions on the strait and Iran's nuclear program.

Separately, Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi told foreign ambassadors and diplomats in Tehran on Sunday that Tehran hoped Washington would choose diplomacy but warned that Iran was prepared to respond if the U.S. again chose military action.

On Thursday, sources told Reuters that Iran was preparing a broader and more forceful response if Washington resumed large-scale military attacks.

On Suday, Araghchi said that there is no "military solution" to the war in the Middle East, although no diplomatic resolution has emerged more than seven months after the hostilities began. Despite the conclusion of an Iran-U.S. cease-fire in April, the signing of a protocol in June and indirect exchanges between the two countries on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in September, talks have stalled, with each party regularly issuing fresh threats of strikes.

“If they again move towards military solutions, we are more prepared than before and will take whatever action is necessary to defend ourselves,” Aragchi said on Sunday. "There is no military solution, nor any solution based on new sanctions," he added in his speech. "Only negotiations based on justice and equity will lead to a solution."

Army spokesperson Mohammad Akraminia told Fars news agency on Sunday Iran would upgrade the range of its missiles, as U.S. forces are now stationed up to 1,000 kilometers from Iranian shores. "During this war, we have come to the conclusion that it is absolutely necessary to increase the range of our missiles, and we have now embarked on this path," he said.

Another tanker targeted in Hormuz

The British maritime security agency UKMTO reported Sunday morning that another tanker had been struck by an "unidentified projectile" causing "damage in the engine room." The crew is safe, according to the agency, which provided no further details.

Before the war, a fifth of the world's hydrocarbon flows transited through this waterway, which Tehran claims to control, requiring ships to request authorization. In retaliation, the United States is imposing a blockade on Iranian ports. Despite Iran's claims, more and more ships are leaving the Gulf under American escort. According to preliminary data from the commodity tracking platform Kpler, oil flows from Gulf countries and Iraq exiting via this waterway reached pre-war levels by the end of September.

"Restoring security on this maritime route requires concrete measures from the Americans," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaïl Baghai reiterated Sunday, citing the lifting of the U.S. blockade and Washington's sanctions.

Since the new U.S. measures took effect, the number of flights to and from Tehran International Airport has dropped by 42%, according to the Flightradar24 platform. Busy routes, especially to Turkey and China, remain in operation.

Yemen, the new front

American media Axios, for its part, reported that the United States has deployed additional Patriot missile batteries in Saudi Arabia and Qatar to protect key energy infrastructure from possible Iranian retaliation. Axios also reported that the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt and its carrier strike group were heading to the Middle East, where two other U.S. carrier strike groups are deployed.

According to Axios, senior members of President Joe Biden's Cabinet discussed on Friday how to proceed with the war against Iran, as well as the conflict in Yemen, which has become the new regional front. Iran-backed Houthis there are fighting government forces supported by Saudi Arabia, against whom they are claiming attacks—targeting, in particular, oil giant Aramco.

These anti-government militiamen again claimed Saturday to have hit a company site south of Riyadh, causing a fire. An AFP journalist saw flames and smoke rising from the site. However, the spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition to restore legitimacy in Yemen, General Turki al-Malki, described the Houthi claims as "misleading" to the Saudi daily Asharq Al-Awsat.