HORMUZ DEADLINE
The hostile words came as Axios and Politico reported that Washington has given Tehran until Saturday to stop firing on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz and acknowledge that the waterway is open.
The strait, a vital shipping route for the world’s oil, is a major source of contention between the United States and Iran.
Tehran effectively closed the strategic waterway in response to the war triggered by US-Israeli strikes on the city in late February.
The Islamic republic insists it must control Hormuz, which comprises Iranian and Omani territorial waters, and has expressed a desire to charge fees for ships that transit it.
It did not have such powers before the war, and while the strait comprises Omani and Iranian territorial waters, under international law the two cannot generally block passage or charge tolls.
The United States launched extensive strikes on Iran this week following attacks on ships in the strait, triggering a wave of reprisals against American bases in the Gulf.
The US Treasury Department also revoked a temporary sanctions waiver for Iranian oil, cancelling a license announced in June that had allowed Tehran to produce, sell and deliver crude oil and related products through Aug 21.
Araghchi will travel to Oman on Saturday for talks on the strait, the official IRNA news agency said.
Doha backed the continued diplomacy, with Iran’s Tasnim agency reporting on Friday that a Qatari delegation was in Tehran to “try to reinforce Qatar’s role as a mediator following events on Tuesday”, when Doha condemned the Islamic republic’s “unacceptable assault” on one of its LNG tankers.
Iran denied the accusation.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who has also been mediating the conflict, held a call with Qatar’s emir on Friday to discuss the recent escalation, Sharif’s office said in a statement.
Sharif also spoke with Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, urging him to safeguard the “hard-earned peace”, the premier said on X.
However, Iran’s chief negotiator in talks with Washington, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, struck a defiant tone.
“Ending the war is a priority for the countries of the world, but everyone must know that this confrontation will never end with Iran’s surrender,” the ISNA news agency reported him saying.
Iranians, he said, were “fully prepared to defend ourselves”.