Middle East & North Africa
Iran says US reply to its seven Hormuz conditions is “inadequate”; Rezaei: the Strait will not open until they are met
Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said Washington’s reply to Tehran’s seven conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz was “inadequate”, according to Iranian state media. The White House did not immediately respond to Reuters.
The United States’ reply to the seven conditions Iran set for reopening the Strait of Hormuz was “inadequate”, said Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and a former commander of the Revolutionary Guards, according to Iranian state media.
The seven conditions and the reply via Qatar
Iran put forward its proposal during the UN General Assembly. Under it, the waterway could reopen and normal ship traffic be restored within seven days, provided Tehran’s conditions were met. The United States replied later through Qatari mediators.
“We presented seven conditions to the Americans and clearly stated that the Strait of Hormuz will not open for them and there will be no negotiations until these conditions are fulfilled,” Rezaei said, as reported by Iranian state media (translated from Persian). He said the Americans accepted some of the conditions in their reply, while others remain vague, and that Washington must clarify the open issues for Tehran. He added that Iran is “no longer in the process of replying to the Americans”.
The White House did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Iran’s text has not been made public, so it is not known which of the seven conditions the United States accepted.
A negotiation that is not moving
In late September Tehran said it had received a US reply to its latest proposal for reviving the ceasefire, days after President Donald Trump said he had rejected it. Qatar and other mediators are carrying messages between the two capitals. Meanwhile the Kremlin has said that Vladimir Putin relayed Iran’s plan to end the war to Trump.
The war began in late February with US and Israeli attacks on Iran. Before it, roughly one fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passed through the Strait of Hormuz. Navigation in the area remains dangerous: the Revolutionary Guards said they hit the tanker “NV Sunshine” south of the Strait, while CENTCOM announced that a US fighter jet disabled the “Ocean Molica” in the Gulf of Oman.
For Greece, which has the largest merchant fleet in the world, the fate of the Strait directly concerns Greek-owned tankers and their crews.
