Iran has said that its response to US proposals concerning efforts to end the conflict will be delivered through mediators, while announcing progress with Oman on establishing safe shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz.
– Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran had clearly outlined its “considerations and conditions” for ending the war on all fronts and restoring security to the Gulf region and the Strait of Hormuz, according to state-run IRNA news agency.
– “The necessary response to the proposals of the other side will also be provided through the mediators,” Baghaei said, adding that messages between Iran and the US are being exchanged through intermediaries.
https://www.trtworld.com/live/69a2a1d4e4ba8e89ecd092dc?page=3&live-id=6ac6b4ffa0ddc9c435268eda
US and Iran hold indirect nuclear talks in New York: US media
-The United States and Iran have discussed Tehran’s nuclear programme in New York this month as part of indirect negotiations, NBC News reports, citing a US official, a Middle East official and an Iranian official.
– According to the report, the Trump administration wants any agreement with Tehran to address what it describes as outstanding critical issues, including Iran’s nuclear programme.
– Washington is not interested in another interim memorandum focused only on the Strait of Hormuz before moving on to nuclear talks, the report added.
– Iran has proposed a seven-day arrangement under which the US would begin lifting sanctions and unfreezing Iranian funds in exchange for reopening the strait, with nuclear discussions to be held separately at a later stage, but US President Donald Trump has rejected the proposal.
https://aje.news/5iov8c?update=5026757
Trump says Iran deal is not his preferred outcome as special envoy negotiates
– US President Donald Trump says his special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, is working on a potential agreement with Iran and is “doing very well”, while indicating that a deal is not his preferred outcome.
– “He’s working on the Iran deal and doing very well. I think the deal isn’t really something that I want to do, but they’re willing to offer us anything to stop,” Trump told supporters at a campaign rally in San Antonio, Texas.
– Trump said Iran would “never have a nuclear weapon” and praised Witkoff as “a great negotiator”.
– He also said he expected the war to end soon.
– “That war ends – it’s going to be very soon. It’s got to be very soon,” Trump said, describing Iran as “a failed nation” with “a little spunk left, but not much.”
https://aje.news/5iov8c?update=5026855
IRGC Navy official to Trump: ‘The oil market also understands that you are lying’
– Ali Mohammadi, political deputy of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, has rejected the US President’s claims over the movement of oil and ships through the Strait of Hormuz.
– “If oil and ships are really passing through the Strait of Hormuz, why isn’t the oil market reacting accordingly? Because the market also understands that you are lying,” Mohammadi said, according to Fars News Agency.
– He also questioned US claims that the IRGC Navy had been destroyed, asking why US forces remained “600 to 700 kilometres away” and were not approaching the strait.
– Mohammadi said the IRGC Navy maintains “full oversight” of vessel movements in the Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman.
https://aje.news/5iov8c?update=5026921