Iran did not ask for a cease-fire, the country’s foreign minister, Abbas Arákci, said on Monday. According to him, Tehran wants to ensure that any end to the war with Israel and the United States is definitive, the semi-official Iranian news agency SNN quoted him as saying. TASR informs about it according to a Reuters report.
In short:
- Iran has not asked for a cease-fire and insists on a definitive end to the war
- The Strait of Hormuz is closed to Iran’s enemies and their supporters
- Neutral countries can use the strait after coordination with the Iranian armed forces
Arákčí also added that the strategically important Strait of Hormuz is closed only “to enemies and those who support their aggression” against Iran.
Cross-Strait Shipping
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tehran, through its spokesman, added that countries that are not parties to the war were allowed to transport their ships through the strait with the coordination and permission of the Iranian armed forces.
On Monday, Iran’s Tasnim agency published preliminary conditions under which Iran could open the Strait of Hormuz, Russian agency TASS wrote. These include the guaranteed lifting of sanctions, the withdrawal of US military bases, the return of frozen assets and de-dollarization, that is, the development of trade in a currency other than the US.
Strategic Hormuz Strait
After the outbreak of war in the Middle East, the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of the world’s oil supplies pass, was practically closed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
The conflict began on February 28 following attacks by the US and Israel against Iran, which responded with retaliatory strikes against Israel and the Gulf states. On the very first day of the American-Israeli attacks, Iran’s highest spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed.
The reaction of NATO and the USA
US President Donald Trump previously called on NATO allies for support in ensuring the safety of oil transportation through the strategic Strait of Hormuz. According to his own words, he expects help from Europe, since the United States is helping Ukraine in the war with Russia.
However, a NATO mission in the seas near Iran is considered highly unlikely, because the Strait of Hormuz does not belong to the Alliance’s territory, and the US cannot thus invoke Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty on Collective Defense, writes the DPA agency. All NATO members would have to agree to an extraterritorial operation in this area.
