Iran has again refused to hold talks with the US until Washington meets a series of conditions, including resolving the situation surrounding shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and normalizing Iranian oil exports.
According to the Fars news agency, citing an unnamed informed source, Tehran is demanding that the US first fulfill the “agreed commitments” and is prepared to discuss resuming negotiations only afterward.
The statement came several hours after Washington demanded that Iran publicly confirm that all routes through the Strait of Hormuz were open to shipping and promise not to attack civilian vessels passing through it. Representatives of the Donald Trump administration warned that refusing to provide such guarantees would have consequences.
Tensions intensified after several nights of US strikes and retaliatory Iranian attacks, which drove up oil prices and cast doubt on the prospects for a broader peace agreement. On Friday, Trump said he considered the ceasefire with Tehran, reached in mid-June, to be over.
An additional factor was the US Treasury Department’s decision to revoke a license that had allowed Iran to sell oil on the global market. Washington also accused Tehran of attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. In response to the latest US strikes, Iran attacked American bases in the region.
Despite the renewed escalation, US officials said they expected consultations with Iran to continue at the expert level. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Oman on Saturday for talks on the future of the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump also threatened to “completely destroy” Iran if its leadership attempted to organize or carried out an assassination attempt against him. The statement followed reports that Israel had warned the US president about a possible new plot by Tehran.
Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, on Saturday called for revenge for the killing of his father, Ali Khamenei, who died in a strike at the start of the US-Israeli war against Iran in late February.
“It is our absolute and indisputable duty to carry out this revenge,” he said.
Mojtaba Khamenei has not appeared in public or delivered a video address since his appointment. His absence has raised questions about how seriously he was injured in the February 28 strike and what role he is playing in negotiations with the US.
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