US negotiators have not officially responded to Iran’s proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the country’s foreign minister said, despite President Donald Trump publicly rejecting the offer on Saturday.
Trump told reporters at the White House that Iran’s proposal was not “acceptable” and that Tehran wanted to make a deal to open the strait to commercial shipping within seven days because “they’re losing so badly”.
In a post on Telegram, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi acknowledged Trump’s rejection, but said the president had made contradictory statements in the past.
He said Iran’s negotiators were waiting for a “definitive” response, and that only a “negotiated solution” could end the conflict.
Araghchi said the conditions to open the strait were the same that had been included in a memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran that was signed in June.
Iran said it had raised reopening the strait and ending hostilities during negotiations on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York this past 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 outbreak of war in February.
“I’m rejecting their deal,” Trump said on Saturday, adding 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.
Araghchi wrote on Telegram that Trump “has made many good statements, as well as many contradictory ones, which unfortunately we hear frequently”.
He continued: “We are waiting for the mediators to convey the definitive views to us, and we will make a decision based on them.”
Oman, which has been acting as a mediator between the US and Iran, called for all parties to continue having open dialogue to resolve the crisis.
Oman’s foreign minister, Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamood Albusaidi, told the UN General Debate that “all parties” should cooperate with Oman in efforts to safeguard navigation in the strategic waterway.
