Tehran: Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until threats against Iran end
Behnam Saeedi, secretary of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Iranian Parliament, stated that the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed until the threats directed at Tehran were lifted. In remarks on Thursday to the Iranian Television-affiliated Young Journalists Club, Saeedi clarified that Iran’s negotiations with the Sultanate of Oman concerned only the determination of navigation mechanisms and routes for ships and maritime vessels in the strait.
Saeedi emphasized that the agreement with Muscat did not mean the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, stating, “The issue of the Strait of Hormuz will be discussed and negotiated when the Americans cease threatening and blockading the sea, when they leave the region, and when the end of the war is declared. Therefore, there is no reason at this stage to open the Strait of Hormuz.” He added, “Oman must bear in mind that Iran will not allow the Americans to intervene in or be present in the Strait of Hormuz.”
On June 14, Iran and the United States, with Pakistani mediation, reached an agreement whose first phase stipulated the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for the release of frozen Iranian assets, with Tehran pledging not to impose fees on ship transits through the strait for 60 days. However, the United States did not release the Iranian assets after the memorandum of understanding was signed, and established an alternative route for ships to transit through Omani territorial waters.
Tehran viewed these steps as a violation of the agreement, restricting navigation in the strait and targeting several ships it claimed had attempted to transit without permission. Despite the memorandum of understanding, tensions between the two countries escalated into military confrontations beginning on July 8 and lasting nearly two weeks, before Iran resumed its negotiations with the Sultanate of Oman to determine safe passages for ship transits in the Strait of Hormuz.
On Wednesday, Ismail Baqaei, a spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, announced that an agreement had been reached with the Sultanate of Oman regarding the geographic coordinates of a safe navigational corridor designated for the transit of commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz.
