TEHRAN: Iran said the United States must meet seven conditions before Iran-US talks resume, as Tehran and Washington offered conflicting accounts of control over the Strait of Hormuz.
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) spokesman Brigadier General Hossein Mohebbi said on Friday that Iran would continue military pressure until Washington met those demands. He also claimed Iranian missiles could defeat US multilayered air-defence systems.
Mohebbi claimed the IRGC controlled passage through the Strait of Hormuz and allowed tankers belonging to Iran’s trading partners to cross with Tehran’s permission. The United States disputes Iran’s account of control over the waterway.
Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei has said Tehran will not restart negotiations until Washington acts first. “Iran will not enter into negotiations,” he said while discussing the conditions.
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Rezaei has publicly identified several demands. They include an end to warfare on all fronts, the release of frozen Iranian assets and an end to what Tehran calls the US naval blockade of Iranian vessels and ports.
He said Pakistan and Qatar had been involved in consultations and had received Tehran’s conditions. That gives Islamabad a direct role in the diplomatic contacts Iranian officials described.
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A US official separately told the Washington Post that discussions through mediators were continuing and described them as constructive.
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The official maintained that Washington was in a strong position over the Strait and was not rushing the negotiations.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says Washington must meet Tehran’s seven conditions before negotiations resume, while Iranian and US officials remain at odds over control of the Strait of Hormuz.
