Tehran says US must ‘rectify its behaviour’ before Iran reopens strait

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Iran’s top security official warned that Tehran would not reopen the Strait of Hormuz unless the US “rectifies its behaviour”, and called on Washington to “permanently end” its war against the Islamic republic and lift its blockade of Iranian ports.

Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, also said on Saturday that the US should withdraw its forces from the vicinity of the republic, pay Tehran compensation for war damage and lift its sanctions.

His comments signalled a hardening of the language from the Islamic regime after Iranian diplomats said this week they were in the final stages of reaching a provisional arrangement with Oman to manage shipping through the strait.

Zolghadr is considered a hardliner and there were unconfirmed reports in some Iranian media outlets this week that he had resigned, which hinted at differences among Iran’s leadership.

Any deal on the strait has to be approved by the security council and Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, the supreme leader.

President Masoud Pezeshkian, a reformist who also chairs the security council, advocated the deal with Oman on the strait, saying it was “the best time to reach an agreement since there is cohesion, strength and unity in the country”.

“We cannot fight forever. It has to be brought to an end at some point,” he said.

But General Hossein Mohebbi, a spokesman for Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards, also said on Saturday that the reopening of Hormuz was contingent upon the US accepting Iran’s conditions.

“For us, the Strait of Hormuz is not simply an economic waterway. It is a component of our geographical and strategic power,” Mohebbi told reporters.

The strait — through which about a fifth of the world’s oil and gas passed before the war — has become the main battleground between the US and Iran. Tehran considers the chokepoint its main source of leverage, while President Donald Trump has pushed for the waterway to be fully reopened ahead of November’s midterm elections.

The warring parties signed a memorandum of understanding in June that was meant to extend a ceasefire and allow shipping to gradually return to its prewar levels, toll-free.

But the MoU collapsed after Iran targeted ships that transited the chokepoint through a channel along Oman’s coast. Tehran, which is determined to maintain control over the strait, said the ships were using an “unauthorised” route. The attacks triggered a wave of tit-for-tat strikes between the US and Iran.

In the weeks since, Iran has held talks with Oman to agree on a temporary route through the waterway. Iranian foreign ministry officials said that Tehran had agreed with Muscat on the geographical coordinates for the new shipping route.

But there have been no signs of progress since Wednesday, when they said a joint statement was in the “final stages” of preparation.

Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, repeated on Saturday that Tehran and Muscat were “very close” to reaching an agreement. But he added that the reopening of the waterway was tied to other conditions, including the US “compensating for its violations” of the MoU.

One person briefed on talks said that if Iran and Oman did agree on a deal and the strait was reopened, the US would lift its naval blockade and reinstate a waiver to allow Tehran to sell oil. They said mediators were still hopeful that a deal was in reach.

Diplomats hope that if Iran and Oman seal a deal, it would revive the June MoU and lead to the resumption of talks on a final settlement to end the war.

The MoU stated that the US would lift all sanctions if a final settlement was agreed, including a deal on Iran’s nuclear programme. Washington would also “remove its forces from the proximity” of the republic within 30 days after a final agreement.

In a sign of the tensions surrounding the strait, the United Arab Emirates said an Iranian missile targeted one of its tankers as it transited the waterway on Saturday, the fourth such assault on the Gulf state’s vessels this week.

State-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company had said on Friday that 15 of its vessels had been targeted in the strait since US and Israel launched the war against Iran in February, including three in the past week.