TEHRAN — Iran said on Sunday that a deal with Oman defining new shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz was in its final stages, but said the waterway would not reopen until the United States met additional conditions.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said the agreement would establish the shipping lanes to be used once Washington met Tehran's demands and the strait was reopened, Iranian media reported.
The Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for global energy shipments, has been blocked by Iran following U.S. and Israeli attacks. A U.S. official told Reuters on Friday that an agreement between Iran and Oman was close and could allow the waterway to reopen.
Araqchi said Iran and the United States were not currently holding direct talks and that Tehran would not resume negotiations while Washington was violating an interim agreement reached in June. Messages were being exchanged through intermediaries, he said.
Iran has said reopening the strait would depend on conditions including U.S. compensation for attacks on Iran. Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, also called for an end to U.S. threats and military action, the lifting of sanctions and the release of Iranian assets.
A U.S. official said Washington would lift its blockade of Iranian ports once an agreement was announced to restore unrestricted commercial shipping, while U.S. actions would be linked to Iran implementing its commitments.
The precise status of the agreement remained unclear on Sunday, with Iran indicating that reopening the waterway would depend on issues beyond the Iran-Oman arrangement.
