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Iran is awaiting a formal response from the United States regarding a proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, while Iranian officials issue threats against regional infrastructure if security guarantees are not met. Despite President Trump dismissing the proposal, Iran's foreign minister expects a reply as tensions persist over commercial shipping blockades.
Iran says it is waiting for a formal response from the US, after it proposed a pathway to open the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has been targeting ships in the Strait of Hormuz, but otherwise hostilities have been limited between Iran and the US.
President Trump has already dismissed the proposal from Iran, but Iran says its waiting for a formal reply. Iran's chief negotiator has said no infrastructure in the region would be safe if his country's security was not guaranteed. Iran on Tuesday threatened to attack infrastructure around the Middle East, intensifying its rhetoric as it awaits a formal response from the US on a new plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
US President Donald Trump has already dismissed the proposal from Tehran, but Iran's foreign minister said Monday that he was expecting a formal response from American officials in the coming day. Fighting has subsided in recent weeks, though Iran has continued to target ships in the strait, with the US falling back on an economic pressure campaign instead of further military action.
Iran's chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Tuesday threatened new attacks, saying no infrastructure in the region would be safe if his country's security was not guaranteed.
"In a region where we cannot sell oil, no one else will sell oil either; or if our security is not guaranteed, no infrastructure will remain safe," Ghalibaf, who is also Iran's parliament speaker, said according to video released by state TV. Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he expected a formal answer from the US on Tuesday to Tehran's proposal, state media reported. Iran has maintained a blockade on commercial shipping through Hormuz since the war began in late February with US-Israeli strikes on the Islamic republic. The shipping route carried a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas before the conflict began.
The US military has been maintaining a counterblockade of Iran's ports in an effort to prevent Tehran from exporting oil. Araghchi said late Monday that Qatari intermediaries "presented ideas, and we discussed them; they are set to raise the matter with the American side once more, after which the final US response will be conveyed to us". The top diplomat, who was in New York for the UN General Assembly, said "the Qataris hope this will be done by tomorrow".
"The current focus is solely on the Strait of Hormuz, and the reopening of the strait is contingent upon the fulfilment of certain conditions that we have communicated to the other side," he added. Last week, discussions were held in New York between Araghchi and US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
As a precondition for ending its blockade, Iran is demanding a seven-day ceasefire across the Middle East, including in Lebanon, where its ally Hezbollah is regularly bombarded by Israel. It is also demanding the unfreezing of Iranian assets abroad, the lifting of sanctions on its oil sector and an end to the US naval blockade on its ports.
Both sides claim to have control of Hormuz, with the US saying oil is moving through and Tehran insisting the waterway is closed. On Tuesday, Iran's Revolutionary Guards, the ideological arm of the country's military, said "the US claim that it remains open is false".
"Sneaking a few hundred barrels of oil through under the cover of darkness — with transponders turned off and at great cost — does not constitute the strait being open," said spokesperson Hossein Mohebi. "A truly open strait is one where, as in the past, at least 125 vessels would pass through daily, transporting a minimum of 20 million barrels of oil and petroleum products.
"Any vessel attempting to pass through sustains damage -- either we strike it, or it hits a mine," he added. Sign up now for daily news from Australia and around the world. You can also subscribe to Insight's weekly newsletter for in-depth features and first-person stories.
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