The strategic Strait of Hormuz was still closed on Sunday as the stand-off between Iran and the United States continued, with Iran’s powerful parliament speaker signalling a final peace deal remained “far” off despite some movement in negotiations.
As mediation efforts continued following high-level talks in Pakistan that failed to reach a deal, Iran said it will not allow the crucial maritime trade chokepoint to re-open until the United States ends a blockade of Iranian ports.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of the Iranian parliament, said in a televised address on Saturday night that there had been “progress” with Washington “but there are many gaps and some fundamental points remain”.
“We are still far from the final discussion,” said Ghalibaf, one of Tehran’s negotiators in the talks aimed at ending the war launched by Israel and the United States against Iran.
A two-week ceasefire is set to end on Wednesday unless it is renewed.
On Friday, Tehran declared the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas usually transits, open after a temporary ceasefire was agreed to halt Israel’s war with Iran’s ally Hezbollah in Lebanon.
That prompted elation in global markets and sent oil prices plunging, but Tehran reversed course after Trump insisted the US blockade of Iranian ports would continue until a final deal was struck.
“If America does not lift the blockade, traffic in the Strait of Hormuz will definitely be limited,” Ghalibaf said.
