Iranian FM: Negotiations with Oman do not mean reopening of the Strait of Hormuz
US President Donald Trump was willing to end the Iran war without securing a nuclear agreement if Tehran fully reopened the Strait of Hormuz, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing US officials.
According to the sources, Donald Trump had privately floated the option to senior aides after weeks of preparing to declare victory if Iran restored free passage through the strategic waterway, according to the report.
That path became more difficult on Saturday when Iran demanded billions of dollars in US payments, the withdrawal of American troops from the region and an end to the US naval blockade, among other conditions, the WSJ reported.
The demands marked Iran’s highest price yet for allowing traffic to flow freely through the strait, according to the newspaper.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday said Iran's talk with Oman do not mean the Strait of Hormuz is being reopened. He said there are no talks with the US, only exchange of messages via intermediaries, Reuters reports citing Mehr news agency
Araghchi reaffirmed that as long as US violations of interim deal continue, there won’t be negotiations, Mehr reports.
He said negotiations with Oman regarding Strait of Hormuz are in their final stages, noting that there will be new shipping routes in the Strait
According to WSJ, Trump has quietly admitted defeat and privately signalling he's willing to end the Iran war without a nuclear deal if the Strait of Hormuz simply opens, a humiliating retreat from his demand for "unconditional surrender from Tehran.
Trump privately told aides he would declare victory based on reopening the Strait — a far cry from his promises to "decimate" Iran's nuclear program. But Iran just raised the price of that exit: $300 billion in compensation, $100–123 billion in frozen assets, U.S. troop withdrawal, and an end to the naval blockade.
So, Trump wanted to get out of the war but Iran is making him pay for it.
U.S. officials say Trump sees the Strait as his only viable exit. But Iran's new demands mean even that is now in doubt. Tehran knows Washington is desperate to leave — and is holding the waterway hostage until Trump surrenders on every point.
Iran sets six conditions for reopening Strait of Hormuz
Restrictions on traffic through the Strait of Hormuz will remain until the US changes course and meets Iran’s conditions, Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Secretary Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr said.
According to him, the strait will not fully reopen unless the US:
1. Stops threatening Iran or insulting what Tehran considers the Iranian nation’s sacred values
2. Permanently ends attacks on Iran and its regional allies
3. Lifts the naval blockade and withdraws US naval and air forces from around Iran
4. Compensates Iran for damage caused by the two wars
5. Lifts sanctions on Iran
5. Releases frozen and seized Iranian assets
“The SNSC of Iran will never back down, whether different in war or in negotiations,” Zolqadr said.
There are certainly no alternative to the arrogant American leaders bullying and intimidating other leaders in regions and countries of the world.
The Donald Trump's acceptance of Iranian control over the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf is an extraordinary outcome only made possible by an administration that squandered legitimacy, alienated allies, attempted regime change in a war it had not fully and adequately prepared for. Now is being forced to accept a catastrophic outcome without viable alternatives.
US and other countries are now being forced to accept an outcome that would have been unthinkable before the unprovoked war but seems to have become unavoidable because of it.
This is a new beginning of the new world order that will not have only a sole lawgiver again.
America will pay dearly for arrogant miscalculation and unprovoked aggression
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