Trump says US agreed to Iran’s request to continue talks, but ceasefire is over
Written by: Enas Alashray and Steve Holland
CAIRO/WASHINGTON, July 10 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump said on Friday that the United States and Iran agreed to continue negotiations despite recent escalating hostilities, but made clear that the ceasefire reached between the two sides last month has ended.
The United States has also stepped up demands that Iran stop attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, where recent hostilities have driven up oil prices; This is a politically sensitive issue for Trump ahead of November’s congressional elections.
Trump’s comments came on a day of relative calm at the end of a week of renewed fighting in which three Qatari and Saudi commercial tankers came under fire, prompting the United States to strike Iranian sites and Iran to respond with attacks on U.S. military facilities in Gulf states.
No new attacks were reported Friday as regional mediators try to salvage diplomatic efforts to permanently end the war that began with a U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran on Feb. 28.
“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 Truth Social.
IRAN ACCEPTED QATAR MEDIATOR
Iran opposed Trump’s comment, saying that it had not requested a meeting with the United States but had agreed to host a Qatari mediator in Tehran, state television reported, citing a spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry. Qatari negotiators were meeting with officials in Iran on Friday to ease tensions and discuss the course of action in the Strait of Hormuz, a source with knowledge of the situation told Reuters.
According to ISNA’s news, based on the foreign ministry spokesman, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi will visit Oman to discuss arrangements for the safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz.
The United States has demanded that Iran publicly announce that it will stop attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz and that all lanes will be open to shipping at no cost, senior US officials said on Friday.
The US struck military facilities in Iran in response after Washington accused Iranian forces of attacking three tankers in the region. Iran then attacked US military facilities in Gulf countries on Thursday.
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 also said 115 people were injured.
Despite this, US officials said that the talks between the two countries have been productive in recent days.
“What we are demanding is that the Iranians issue a public statement acknowledging that all channels of the Strait of Hormuz are open and that they are no longer firing on ships. Either they will give us that statement, or we will not have a good outcome for them,” one official said.
A foreign ministry spokesman said Tehran had also pledged that any breach of commitment by Washington would be met with “reciprocal action”, according to state media.
The aim of this interim agreement was to pave the way for an end to the conflict, now in its fifth month, that has killed thousands, restricted energy supplies worldwide and raised fears of a global economic downturn.
OIL MARKET TURBULENCE
Renewed conflicts in the Gulf have increased the pain of US consumers. Crude oil prices experienced their biggest weekly rise in eight weeks, following weeks of steady declines.
The Energy Information Administration said U.S. gasoline inventories fell 1.9 million barrels last week, about 10 million barrels below the five-year average. Dow Jones Energy chief oil analyst Denton Cinquegrana said gasoline stocks were below seasonal norms in all regions of the United States.
Before the war, the Strait of Hormuz handled about one-fifth of global shipments of oil and liquefied natural gas. Tehran has since seized largely control of the waterway, bringing its conflict with the world’s most powerful military to a stalemate.
Iran buried its slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the country’s holiest shrine in Mashhad on Thursday, ending a week of funerals and rallies.
Khamenei was killed in an airstrike on the first day of the war on February 28. His office announced that a condolence ceremony will be held for the father of religious leader Mojtaba Khamenei on Friday after sunset prayers in the city of Qom.
Mojtaba Khamenei, who was injured in the attack that killed his father, did not appear in public, increasing speculation about his role in the future of Iran.
Taghi, a 47-year-old shop owner in Isfahan who did not want to give his surname, said, “I understand that he should not appear in public for security reasons. However, the country is going through a very difficult period.” “The Religious Leader needs to be seen.”
(Additional reporting by Menna Alaa El Din in Cairo, Ahmed Elimam and Eman Abouhassira in Dubai, Andrew Mills in Doha and Jonathan Saul in London; Writing by Alexandra Hudson, Andrew Heavens, Matt Spetalnick and Daniel Trotta; Editing by Philippa Fletcher, Andrew Heavens and Sanjeev Miglani)
