Araghchi says Hormuz stays closed until US accepts Iran's conditions; Bessent says Iran has 'no oil on the water'

Iran will keep the Strait of Hormuz closed unless the United States accepts Tehran’s conditions, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in an interview with Iraq’s Al Ekhbariya television aired on Tuesday 20 October, adding that indirect talks with Washington were continuing through Pakistan and Qatar.

Araghchi said Iran had put forward a seven-day initiative under which the strait would be fully reopened on the sixth day. “The Americans informed us that they agreed to these conditions, but they wanted to add several other provisions,” he said, according to Iran International. He said Iran wanted the US to meet all its commitments under what he called the Islamabad memorandum before talks moved to other issues. “The negotiating table is still there,” he said.

Asked about the Red Sea, Araghchi said developments there “have nothing to do with us”. He said neither Saudi Arabia nor Yemen’s Houthis had replied to Iran’s offer to help broker talks between them, and that “any foreign intervention would complicate matters” when asked about Egypt possibly joining Saudi Arabia, Reuters reported. A vote in Egypt’s parliament on possible military action against the Houthis has been delayed until 26 October, Reuters said.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday that economic pressure on Iran was working. “We haven’t seen any loadings at the Iranian oil facility on Kharg Island since August. Iran currently has no oil on the water,” he told 2Way TV, according to Iran International. “I don’t know whether it’s going to take four more weeks or eight more weeks, but at a point, their economy will go nonlinear,” he said.

Background: The US and Israel launched strikes on Iran in February, starting a war in which Iran has restricted shipping through Hormuz and the US has imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports. Iran’s leaders told Pakistan’s army chief this week that Washington must meet their conditions first and that enriched uranium will not leave the country (our report). US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview recorded in Mumbai on Tuesday that it was “very difficult to make a deal” with Iran’s leadership (our report).