Iran says it will name its terms for reopening Strait of Hormuz

Iran is drawing up a list of conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, its top security official has said.

Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said on Thursday that mediators had asked Tehran to set out its terms, and that ending the regional war was among them.

His remarks came as Qatar’s prime minister held talks in Tehran, the third mediating state to visit Iran in a week, following Pakistan and Oman delegations.

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said the two sides had discussed a temporary corridor through the strait and a joint project to clear mines from it.

Rezaei said Iran and Oman had agreed on a corridor running partly through Omani and partly through Iranian waters, with vessels using a middle channel if Washington met Iran’s demands.

“The US must first take practical steps to fulfil Iran’s conditions, and then Iran will proceed to open the Strait of Hormuz,” he told the IRNA news agency.

A spokesperson for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Wednesday that Tehran would not allow a reopening unless Washington lifted its blockade of Iranian ports, paid compensation for war damages and removed sanctions.

Tehran effectively closed the strait after the US-Israel bombing campaign began on February 28.