US President Donald Trump spoke optimistically at the weekend about a resumption of negotiations with Iran and prospects for a swift agreement on the Strait of Hormuz, the issue at the heart of the stop-start conflict.
But according to the language and tone from Tehran Monday, Iran is not talking with the United States and feels no need to, and is rather focused on a bilateral deal with Oman on how to manage the critical waterway.
And they would not lead automatically to a reopening of the strait, he added.
That route, according to Baghaei, would be temporary, serving the “interests of both coastal states.” It would be a single corridor, rather than two routes – one close to the Iranian coast and one close to Oman’s – that had been discussed previously.
“Whether this stage and this process can be connected to another process that leads to a reduction of tensions in the region, we must wait and see,” Baghaei said.
Tehran is essentially saying that it’s oblivious to Trump’s remarks and blames the United States for blowing up the Memorandum of Understanding agreed in June.
While that remained the case, he asserted, “naturally no significant change will occur in the situation of the Strait of Hormuz.”
Trump also suggested Sunday that talks would broach what he called the “de-nuclearization” of Iran. There has been no word from Tehran on that aspect of the negotiations.
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