Tehranm Aug 18, (dpa/GNA) – Iran is demanding the implementation of the faltering framework agreement, signed with the United States in mid-June, as a condition for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Tuesday.
The waterway, which is critical for global energy trade, will remain closed for as long as the US fails to honour its obligations under the agreement, Ghalibaf told a parliamentary session. These obligations included “lifting the naval blockade, releasing frozen assets, lifting oil sanctions and ending threats and military operations on all fronts,” he said.
The war between Iran and the US escalated again in early July, when Iranian forces fired on commercial vessels in the strait.
Intensive US military bombardments of Iran’s southern coast followed. Iran then attacked US bases and energy installations in the Gulf states.
Diplomatic efforts to bring the war to an end are at an impasse. On Monday, a 60-day deadline set out in June’s preliminary agreement for the two sides to reach a final peace deal, including on Iran’s nuclear programme, expired. While there have been fewer mutual attacks in the Iran war recently, the central points of dispute, remain unresolved.
US President Donald Trump, meanwhile, posted a map on Tuesday of the Strait of Hormuz, which separates Iran and Oman, on his Truth Social platform bearing the words “New U.S. Territory.”
The Republican had said a few days earlier that he would soon declare the Strait of Hormuz, which has been effectively closed since the US and Israel launched their war on Iran in February, a “territory of the United States.”
The US has been blockading Iranian shipping and ports, while Tehran has attacked commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran swiftly criticized Trump’s post. “His delusion about the Strait of Hormuz will soon either be corrected, or we will correct the delusions of this delusional man,” Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi wrote on X.
GNA