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| A profile picture of IRGC firing missiles at ships in the Strait of Hormuz |
U.S. Joint Chiefs Chairman General Dan Caine has reportedly urged senior Trump administration officials to pursue de-escalation with Iran as Washington’s military options narrow.
Caine has privately told senior Trump administration officials that the U.S. needs to “find an off-ramp” from the war with Iran, warning that further military escalation could backfire.
According to the report, Caine warned that further escalation could achieve limited gains while exposing U.S. forces and regional allies to potentially devastating retaliation.
American President Donald Trump is reportedly preparing a ground invasion plan, while the U.S. military is looking for an off-ramp.
The reported push comes as the Trump administration weighs its next steps in the conflict with Iran.
Reopening the Strait of Hormuz will depend on the United States compensating Iran for violations of the Islamabad agreement, Abbas Araghchi said, as cited by Tasnim News.
At the same time, Iran and Oman are close to an agreement on the legal and technical arrangements for vessel traffic through the strait.
Araghchi said Iran no longer accepts the previous shipping route and wants a new traffic separation system established. Because that process is technically and legally complex, the two sides are now discussing a temporary route to be used until a permanent one is agreed.
Iranian and Omani military and naval officials have already held talks based on existing maritime maps, Tasnim reported.
The negotiations are ongoing, and given the technical complexities, a temporary route is currently being worked out. In my view, we are very close to reaching a final agreement.
However, this step should not be interpreted as a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
The reopening of the Strait of Hormuz is contingent on other conditions, including the United States making amends for its violation of the understanding.
Iran's security chief Mohammad-Bagher Zolghadr said the Strait of Hormuz would not reopen until the United States “corrects its behavior,” Iranian media reported Saturday.
Zolghadr, who is the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said “correcting” US behavior meant meeting a series of Iranian demands, including ending threats and military action against Iran and its allies and lifting the naval blockade.
“Correcting its behavior means that Iran must never again be threatened or humiliated, aggression against Iran and its allies must end permanently, the naval blockade must be lifted, US naval and air forces must withdraw from around Iran, war damages must be compensated, sanctions must be lifted and Iran’s frozen assets must be released,” Zolghadr said in a written message.
He said the demands also included the withdrawal of US naval and air forces from around Iran, compensation for damage from the wars, the removal of sanctions and the release of frozen Iranian assets.
“The Supreme National Security Council will never back down, whether in war or in negotiations,” he said.
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