Iran Says Hormuz Is Priority as US Keeps Focus on Nuclear Issue
Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran wants Hormuz security first, while US proposals stay nuclear-focused.
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File photo: Strait of Hormuz seen from space. Photo: NASA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Trend News Agency quoted him rejecting reports that Iran had offered IAEA access to nuclear sites in exchange for sanctions relief. “Overall, Iran has not made any proposal in this form. Iran has not put forward any issue in exchange for sanctions relief or concessions on the nuclear issue,” he said, according to Trend.
Baghaei said Iran’s conditions had been conveyed through mediators as part of a “seven-day plan,” and that Qatar had passed those terms to Washington, Trend and WANA reported.
Volatility in US decision-making
Baghaei blamed obstacles to peace talks on what he called the “volatility and fluctuation” of US decision-making. “This is reflected in their conflicting statements as well as their fluctuating demands. This is a problem faced not only by Iran, but by all the countries dealing with the United States,” he said, according to Gulf News and Middle East Eye.
The remarks come as Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has insisted Hormuz will stay closed until Tehran’s seven conditions are met, and as Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has separately said there is no military or sanctions-only path out of the conflict, according to prior Al Jazeera and Dawn/AFP reporting.
Neither Iran International nor Gulf News carried an immediate US government response to Baghaei’s latest comments. Indirect contacts through Qatar continue, with the sides still divided over sequencing.
The Candor Post will continue to monitor official statements from Tehran and Washington.
