Fight for Hormuz swings between missiles & diplomacy as Iran minister reaches Oman
US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that the US and Iran agreed to continue negotiations despite increased hostilities this week and declared that the ceasefire reached between the two sides has ended. However, no attacks were reported on Friday or Saturday.
Also Read: Washington violated ceasefire terms, Iran gives ‘reality check’ to US
Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has arrived in Oman, Iran’s semi-official news agency Tasnim said on Saturday. The country is helping broker an end to the war that has spread insecurity in the Gulf and driven up prices around the world since the United States and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran on Feb. 28.
CBS News and its UK partner BBC reported that US Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner were expected to lead talks with Araqchi on Saturday.
Reuters could not immediately confirm the reports, which did not say whether they would be in Oman or participate virtually. Iran’s Fars news agency later quoted a source as saying no talks would take place until the US withdraws from its positions.
Also Read: US insists on Iran’s determination to stop attacks on Strait of Hormuz, US officials say
IRAN SAID THE USA VIOLATED THE INTERIM AGREEMENT Araqchi accused the USA of violating the ceasefire agreement; The United States canceled the license allowing the sale of Iranian crude oil on Tuesday after the ships were hit.
“There can only be mutual obedience,” he wrote in X. Three Qatari and Saudi commercial tankers came under fire earlier in the week, prompting the US to strike Iranian sites and Iran to respond with attacks on US military facilities in the Gulf states.
Although Iran has not claimed responsibility for the ship attacks, analysts say Tehran uses such actions to gain leverage in negotiations. Iran has informed US officials that recent attacks on ships in the strait were a “faulty part of their system”, senior US officials told reporters on Friday, and the comments appeared to be aimed at calming tensions.
The flare-up has further raised doubts about the future of an interim deal aimed at ending the conflict and sent oil prices soaring, a politically sensitive issue for Trump ahead of congressional elections in November.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran asked us to continue ‘talks’. We agreed to do so, but the USA made it clear to them that the ceasefire was over!” Trump shared a post on the Truth Social platform on Friday.
Iran disputed Trump’s comment, saying it had not requested talks with the United States but had agreed to host a Qatari mediator, state television reported. Qatari negotiators met with officials in Iran on Friday to ease tensions and discuss the Strait of Hormuz, a person with knowledge of the situation told Reuters.
Trump also shared that he has instructed the US military to be ready to launch an attack against Iran if Tehran assassinates or attempts to assassinate the president.
“1,000 Missiles are Locked and Loaded and are aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran, with thousands of missiles to follow immediately if the Government of Iran carries out its threat, pronounced in many corners of the world, to assassinate or attempt to assassinate the sitting President of the United States, in this case ME,” he said.
The Wall Street Journal and other US media reported this week that Israel shared intelligence with Washington that Iran had recently devised a plot to assassinate Trump.
There has been no comment from Iran yet regarding Trump’s latest statements.
At the funeral of Iran’s slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday, a large crowd of mourners filled the courtyard; some held signs reading “We Will Kill Trump.” Khamenei was killed in an air strike on the first day of the war.
US OFFICIALS REPORTED THAT CONSTRUCTIVE MEETINGS WERE HELD WITH IRAN
The United States has demanded that Iran publicly announce that it will stop attacks on ships in the strait and that all routes in the waterway, which carried one-fifth of the global oil supply before the war, will be open without tolls, senior US officials told reporters on Friday.
During the war, Tehran largely took control of the strait, bringing its conflict with the world’s most powerful army to a stalemate.
At least 17 people were killed in US attacks on six Iranian cities on Wednesday and Thursday, the head of the Iranian Ministry of Health’s public relations and information center said. He said 115 people were injured.
Despite this, US officials said that the talks between the two countries have been productive in recent days.
According to state media, a foreign ministry spokesman said any breach of Washington’s commitment by Tehran would be met with “reciprocal action”.
The interim agreement last month was aimed at paving the way for an end to the conflict, now in its fifth month, that has killed thousands, constrained energy supplies around the world and raised fears of a global economic downturn. Renewed conflicts in the Gulf have increased the pain of US consumers. Crude oil prices recorded their biggest weekly increase in eight weeks, following weeks of steady declines.
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