Iran Rejects Restart of Talks As Renewed Strikes Slow Hormuz Shipping
Iran has rejected restarting talks with the US unless the Trump administration "first retreats from its current positions," the semi‑official Fars News Agency reported on Saturday.
Iranian authorities want the "implementation of the understandings" already reached with the US, the news agency reported, citing an informed source it didn’t identify. Those include shipping through the Strait of Hormuz in "accordance with arrangements sought by Iran," the agency said.
They also include the "restoration of Iranian oil exports and the flow of oil to normal conditions," Fars reported. Any discussion about starting talks "before these conditions are met is baseless and inconsistent," the source told Fars.
The Iranian position contradicts comments by President Donald Trump. He said on Friday that Washington and Tehran had agreed to continue talks despite an escalation of hostilities this week.
"Iran has asked us to continue ‘talks,’" Trump posted on Truth Social. "We have agreed to do so, but the United States has stated to them, in no uncertain terms, that the Cease Fire is OVER!"
Hormuz Remains Obstacle
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi arrived in Muscat on Saturday for talks with Omani officials. They discussed mechanisms to ensure the safe passage of vessels through Hormuz, the semi‑official Tasnim News Agency reported.
Qatari officials are participating in the talks between Iran and Oman in Muscat over Hormuz, Axios reported, citing a diplomat with knowledge.
Iran has insisted that it has the legal right to regulate military and commercial passage alongside Oman through Hormuz. Both nations border the strategic waterway, where about 20% of global energy flows.
Ahead of the talks, Araqchi accused the US of violating the ceasefire agreement. The US revoked the license authorizing the sale of Iranian crude on Tuesday after the vessels were hit.
"There can only be mutual compliance," he wrote on X. "Iran has so far kept its word."
IMO Rejects Iran’s Hormuz Claim
A day before the Muscat talks, the UN’s London‑based International Maritime Organization (IMO) on Friday rejected Iranian claims of sovereignty over the Strait. Countries should oppose Tehran’s "unilateral decision" to create a body to control traffic through the waterway.
The IMO Council "strongly condemned" Iran’s decision to "establish an entity purporting to control traffic through the strait," Reuters reported, citing a non‑binding decision.
The UN organization urged its 176 member states not to recognize Iran’s claim of sovereignty over Hormuz. It said Iran’s assertions violated other states’ sovereign rights in nearby maritime zones.
Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority said in an advisory in June that no vessel was permitted to pass through the waterway "without a valid passage permit" issued by the body. The Council stressed that Iran must not interfere with international transit passage.
The US has also demanded that Iran publicly declare all channels of Hormuz open to shipping. It has called on Tehran to pledge not to attack civilian vessels transiting the waterway.
US Strikes Iran
US Central Command said it struck on Wednesday approximately 90 Iranian military targets after Tehran attacked three commercial vessels navigating the Strait. It hit air-defense systems, coastal surveillance assets, missile and drone storage sites along Iran’s coastline.
Since early May, US forces have helped facilitate the successful transit of more than 800 commercial vessels. About 380 million barrels of crude oil have passed through the vital international trade corridor since then, Centcom said.
The resurgence in tit-for-tat military strikes has slowed shipping through Hormuz. Just six vessels crossed from Friday night to Saturday morning, Windward, the maritime intelligence platform, said on X.
That’s the third straight overnight drop, with traffic falling from a normalized 18-22 earlier this month, Windward said. Dark transits are also climbing, accounting for nearly 40% of all traffic, the highest in six days.