Iran has warned it will attack infrastructure across the Middle East if its security is not guaranteed, raising tensions as it waits for Washington’s formal response to a proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
US President Donald Trump has already rejected Tehran’s proposal, but Iran’s foreign minister said on Monday he expects a formal response from American officials within a day.
Fighting has eased in recent weeks, though Tehran continues to target ships in the strait. Washington has shifted focus to an economic pressure campaign instead of further military action.
No infrastructure safe
Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf threatened new attacks on Tuesday, warning that no infrastructure in the region would remain safe if his country’s security was not guaranteed.
“In a region where we cannot sell oil, no one else will sell oil either; or if our security is not guaranteed, no infrastructure will remain safe,” said Ghalibaf, who is also Iran’s parliament speaker, according to state TV.
Iran has blocked commercial shipping through Hormuz since the war started in late February with US-Israeli strikes on the Islamic republic.
The shipping route carried a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas before the conflict began. The US military has set up a counterblockade of Iran’s ports to stop Tehran from exporting oil.
Qatari mediation efforts
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said late Monday that Qatari intermediaries “presented ideas, and we discussed them; they are set to raise the matter with the American side once more, after which the final US response will be conveyed to us”.
The top diplomat, who was in New York for the UN General Assembly, said “the Qataris hope this will be done by tomorrow”.
“The current focus is solely on the Strait of Hormuz, and the reopening of the strait is contingent upon the fulfilment of certain conditions that we have communicated to the other side,” he added.
Last week, discussions took place in New York between Araghchi and US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said on Tuesday there had been “several meetings and messages have been exchanged, including some in New York and earlier”.
“Current efforts are focused on building common ground between the parties,” he said.
Iran wants a seven-day ceasefire across the Middle East, including in Lebanon, where its ally Hezbollah faces regular Israeli bombing. Tehran also demands the unfreezing of its assets abroad, the lifting of sanctions on its oil sector and an end to the US naval blockade on its ports.
Battle for control
Both sides claim to control Hormuz. The US says oil is moving through while Tehran insists the waterway is closed.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, the ideological arm of the country’s military, said on Tuesday “the US claim that it remains open is false”.
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“Sneaking a few hundred barrels of oil through under the cover of darkness – with transponders turned off and at great cost – does not constitute the strait being open,” said spokesperson Hossein Mohebi.
“A truly open strait is one where, as in the past, at least 125 vessels would pass through daily, transporting a minimum of 20 million barrels of oil and petroleum products,” he said.
“Any vessel attempting to pass through sustains damage – either we strike it, or it hits a mine,” he added.
Tehran’s control of Hormuz has dealt a severe blow to Gulf states, which have also come under Iranian fire.
Al Ansari said on Tuesday that Iranian authorities “need to take a decision to distance our countries from this war and to take a very clear position of non-aggression towards their neighbours”.
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