Iran denies talks with US, says Hormuz will stay shut until demands are met

Rubio says no need for major combat operations against Iran

Iran’s security chief Mohsen Rezaei has said that Tehran is waiting for a response from the United States on its seven conditions for peace talks, while dismissing speculation about holding any negotiations with Washington.

Rezaei’s comments on Tuesday came as hopes grow for a diplomatic breakthrough in the US and Israel’s war on Iran after US President Donald Trump said that he saw “positive momentum” towards ending the conflict.

Recommended Stories

list of 3 items- list 1 of 3US voters want Democrats focused on ending Iran war, lowering costs: Poll

- list 2 of 3Fire contained on platform in Iran’s South Pars gas field

- list 3 of 3US charges 3 ‘Iranian-backed operatives’ over alleged plot at UK air base

Trump, who held talks with Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani at the White House on Monday, also said that new attacks on Iran were unnecessary. Qatar is a key mediator in the conflict.

Rezaei told Lebanon’s Al Mayadeen TV on Tuesday that claims “about continuing negotiations or holding a meeting in Qatar is a pure lie”, saying that Washington was talking up negotiations to ease economic pressure and bring down oil prices.

He said the Strait of Hormuz – the global maritime corridor that Iran closed – will not reopen until the US meets Tehran’s seven conditions. “Their initial response was insufficient and deceptive, and we are still waiting for an explicit and clear response,” he said.

Iran has not released the full list of conditions. But Rezaei and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi have said it includes lifting sanctions and the US naval blockade, and ending the fighting on all fronts, especially Israel’s attacks on Lebanon.

Araghchi has said that Hormuz could be reopened within two days if the demands are met.

“The conflict with Iran will not be resolved through military means, nor by intensifying sanctions,” Araghchi told the state news agency IRNA on Tuesday. “The only solution is to adopt a language of respect, engage in diplomacy, and address Iran’s demands and conditions – which were outlined in the two-day proposal and remain on the table,” he said.

The war, which is now in its ninth month, has roiled global markets and disrupted oil and gas supplies, pushing up prices around the world.

In the French capital, Paris, where foreign ministers from the Group of 7 were meeting, Sheikh Mohammed held talks with the Saudi foreign minister and four top European diplomats only hours after his meeting with Trump. The French Foreign Ministry said the talks would focus on the Iran crisis and its security and economic fallout.

Speaking to reporters in Paris, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington was “open to diplomacy”. He reiterated Trump’s position that further strikes were not needed “if we’re achieving the same objectives through economic means”.

“The economic campaign is so devastating that right now there is no need for major combat operations,” Rubio said. “That’s what I told our allies here today.”

In the Strait of Hormuz, meanwhile, attacks on vessels continued.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed that three oil tankers caught fire on Tuesday after striking naval mines while transiting an “unauthorised route” in the eastern part of the strait.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said it received reports of incidents involving two tankers in the region. It said one of the tankers had been struck by an unknown projectile northeast of Oman’s Lima village.

The attacks came after maritime monitoring firms reported at least 37 attacks on ships in and near the Strait of Hormuz in November. The figure is the highest monthly total for ship attacks since the start of the war.