Iran insists only negotiations will end the war with the US

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The remarks by Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi today follow a rejection by US President Donald Trump of a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Speaking from the White House on Saturday, President Trump told reporters that Iran’s proposal was “not acceptable” and that Tehran was pursuing a deal to reopen the strait to commercial shipping within seven days because “they’re losing so badly.”

He said that the US already had “total control” of the strait, with “massive amounts of oil” passing through it, causing massive rises in global oil prices and steep fuel cost increases for consumers.

While acknowledging President Trump’s rejection in a post on Telegram, Mr Araghchi said Iran would wait for a “definitive” official US response.

He pointed out that the president had past form for making contradictory statements.

Mr Araghchi said the conditions to open the strait were the same that had been included in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) agreed by both parties in June.

That deal was broken within days by the US when they returned to bombing and missile raids on Iran.

Iran said that it had raised reopening the strait and ending hostilities during negotiations on the sidelines of the United Nations general assembly in New York last week.

The vital waterway through which around a fifth of the world’s gas and oil supply usually flows has been effectively closed since the illegal and unprovoked war was launched by the US and Israel on February 28.

Separately, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, told the CBS network that “distrust created by this war needs to be overcome” in order for talks to be successful.

He said the Iranians were open to talks on implementing the MoU in stages in order to end the impasse, but that the “US needs to show it does not intend to overthrow our government.”

President Pezeshkian said President Trump had “tore up” the MoU when the US resumed its bombing campaign, adding: “If we don’t abide by what we have written down, can we really resolve it by dialogue?”

Oman, which has largely replaced Pakistan as the main mediator between the US and Iran, called for all parties to continue having open dialogue to resolve the crisis.

Oman Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamood Albusaidi, told the UN general assembly that “all parties” should co-operate with Oman in efforts to safeguard navigation in the strategic waterway.