Iran has held firm on its conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, as Pakistan’s interior minister, Mohsin Naqvi, visited Tehran, and the United States and Yemen’s Houthis launched attacks on shipping in the Gulf and the Red Sea.
The developments on Tuesday came as the US-Israel war on Iran showed no sign of ending, despite repeated claims from US President Donald Trump that a deal was close.
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Mohsen Rezaei, the newly appointed head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, told China’s ambassador to Tehran that Washington must end its military campaign and release Iranian funds held abroad for a full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
“As long as the US does not change its behaviour and accept Iran’s conditions, the Strait of Hormuz will not be reopened,” Rezaei said, according to Iranian media.
Writing on X, he insisted on an end to the US’s naval blockade on Iranian ports as well as a region-wide ceasefire, including in Gaza and Lebanon.
“IRAN’s message is clear,” he wrote. “The Strait of Hormuz will not reopen until the U.S. ends the war and blockade, releases Iran’s frozen assets, and agrees to a region-wide ceasefire, including in Lebanon and Gaza.
“Until all conditions are met, the Strait will remain closed.”
There was no immediate comment from Washington.
Trump has swung between threats of escalation and assurances of an imminent peace deal throughout the conflict.
In an interview broadcast late on Monday, he suggested that the uncertainty could last for a while, saying he might just “bop along” and let Tehran fail economically, or “hit” them “really, really hard”.
“I’m sort of negotiating,” Trump told Real America’s Voice. “They’re very devious negotiators.”
In Tehran, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met Pakistan’s interior minister, with the two sides discussing closer political, economic, trade, cultural and security ties, according to the Iranian presidency.
Naqvi’s visit comes as Islamabad mediates efforts to end the ongoing conflict.
Earlier, Qatar – another mediator in the conflict – said talks between Iran and Oman on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz had reached an advanced stage.
“We have heard positive statements from both capitals in the recent couple of days,” said Majed al-Ansari, spokesman for the Qatari Foreign Ministry. “Our main priority here is the reopening of the strait, maintaining the ceasefire and making sure that we are able to push forward towards the negotiation.”
Iran, meanwhile, said any agreement between it and Oman on routes in the Strait of Hormuz will have no impact on the reopening of the waterway.
US, Houthi attacks
Separately on Tuesday, US Central Command said a US Navy MH-60 helicopter fired two Hellfire missiles to disable the steering gear of a Panama-flagged cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz.
It said the ship had ignored repeated warnings to stop violating the US naval blockade of Iranian ports.
At the southern end of the Red Sea, four crew members were killed in a suspected Houthi attack on a small cargo vessel in the Bab al-Mandeb strait, according to Yemen’s Transport Ministry. Two Yemeni rescuers from an anti-Houthi military group were also killed, Yemen’s coastguard said.
The killings on board the Egyptian-owned Tihamah would be the first by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi strikes on shipping since the war on Iran began in late February.
The Houthi-run Saba news agency reported that the group had attacked a Saudi ship carrying military equipment in Bab al-Mandeb. It did not name the ship, and there was no immediate Saudi response to the report.
Thousands of people have been killed since the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28. Iran has also struck US assets and infrastructure in Oman, Jordan, Kuwait, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
In Iran, at least 3,527 people have been killed, while more than 27,00 have been wounded. At least 18 Americans have also died.
The conflict has also widened to Lebanon, where Iran-backed Hezbollah has launched attacks on Israel, and Israeli forces have carried out near-daily strikes.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry says Israel’s latest military escalation there, which began on March 2, has killed more than 4,300 people and injured more than 12,000. In Israel, at least 60 people have been killed in Iranian and Hezbollah attacks.
