Won't reopen Hormuz without US meeting all Tehran's conditions: IRGC

TEHRAN, Aug 9: Iran said on Sunday it would not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until the United States met a series of demands including compensation for wartime damage, casting doubt on prospects for an imminent reopening of the vital global shipping route despite progress in talks with Oman.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said an agreement with Oman on transit and the management of the strait was in its “final stages”, but stressed that the deal alone would not lead to the waterway reopening.

“Reopening the strait is subject to other conditions and compensation” for violations of a June agreement, Araghchi said, according to Iranian media.

Iranian security chief Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr has demanded an end to what Tehran describes as US aggression against Iran and its allies in Lebanon, Palestine, Yemen and Iraq. 

The Islamic Revolutionary Guards said the strait would remain closed until Tehran's conditions were accepted, describing it as a “theatre of war”.

Araghchi said Iran and the United States were not engaged in direct negotiations, but were exchanging messages through intermediaries. Tehran has said it will not begin formal talks while Washington continues to violate the June interim agreement.

Washington has indicated that it could lift its blockade of Iranian ports once commercial shipping through Hormuz is restored and Iran meets its commitments.

The standoff has been accompanied by attacks on shipping. The United Arab Emirates said Iran had attacked an ADNOC-linked tanker with a missile while it was transiting Hormuz, although no casualties were reported.�"AGENCIES