The Strait of Hormuz is going to remain closed until the United States accepts TehranâÂÂs seven-day plan to reopen the waterway, IranâÂÂs top negotiator and parliament speaker has said.
Iranian state-linked news agency Nournews, quoting â Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, reported on Sunday that Washington made âÂÂsome proposals through a mediatorâ days after the US replied â to IranâÂÂs diplomatic proposal.
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The US should know âÂÂthat the era of wasting time and dictating unilateral demands is overâÂÂ, Ghalibaf said, adding IranâÂÂs position remains âÂÂclear and definiteâÂÂ.
He emphasised that âÂÂthe Strait of Hormuz will not open until our seven conditions based on the Islamabad memorandum are metâÂÂ, and that Iran is âÂÂpresent on the military battlefield and will confront them with new surprisesâÂÂ.
He added that Iran was neither âÂÂexcitedâ nor âÂÂintimidatedâ by the latest US proposals and would âÂÂboth fight and negotiateâÂÂ.
US President Donald Trump ruled out an Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz last week, hours after Iran put forward a roadmap to reopening the strait, through which one-fifth of global oil and natural gas is shipped during peacetime.
Last month, Trump threatened to âÂÂannihilateâ Iran in his speech on the floor of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
On Sunday, Iranian Foreign â Minister Abbas Araghchi also said Iran is âÂÂserious about finding diplomatic solutions just as we are serious about defending ourselvesâÂÂ.
Speaking to foreign ambassadors and diplomats in Tehran, Araghchi said Iran had clearly explained â its conditions for reopening the strait and â that Tehran hoped Washington would choose diplomacy and accept its proposal.
However, Araghchi warned that if the US takes military action again, Iran is âÂÂmore prepared than before and will take whatever action is necessary to defend ourselvesâÂÂ.
Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei added that Tehran used the UNGA platform last month to provide world leaders with its position on ending the US-Israel war on Iran.
He said the US has continued to focus on nuclear talks, while reopening the strait has been IranâÂÂs main goal.
âÂÂWe are at this stage mainly focusing on the strait, and our principal concern is to reach a solution and to have peace and stability restored within this waterway,â Baghaei said.
The Strait of Hormuz has been largely blocked and disrupted for more than seven months, since the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28, driving one of the worst maritime shipping disruptions in decades.
