Iran Negotiator Says Hormuz Stays Closed Until US Meets Conditions
Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf says Tehran will both fight and negotiate as Washington floats new proposals through a mediator.
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File photo: Strait of Hormuz. Photo: NASA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
“We are present on the military battlefield with all our might and will confront him with new surprises, and we also use the tools of diplomacy to establish our superiority in the military field and impose the rights of the Iranian people,” he said, according to the live blog.
War context
The remarks come as US President Donald Trump has said he will soon make a decision on Iran and has described the choice as the “easy way or the hard way,” according to prior reporting by Reuters and Al Arabiya. Commercial shipping through Hormuz has faced repeated projectile incidents reported by United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, while Washington has described its naval pressure on Iranian ports as an “ironclad” blockade.
Neither Al Jazeera nor the Reuters account carried by Oman Observer reported an immediate US government response to Ghalibaf’s Sunday comments. Diplomacy over reopening Hormuz has repeatedly stalled, with Qatar and other mediators attempting to bridge gaps between Tehran and Washington.
