SAEDNEWS: Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs said that the United States sent messages about 10 days ago urging both sides to de-escalate the conflict.
According to a report by Saed News' political desk, Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs, said that if Iran had opened the southern route of the Strait of Hormuz, it would no longer have been able to fully exercise its sovereignty over the strategic waterway.
Gharibabadi stated that the United States has concluded that Iran is prepared to take whatever steps it considers necessary to reinforce its authority over the Strait of Hormuz, including the possibility of a renewed military conflict.
He further claimed that the United Kingdom and France, together with 34 other countries, formed what he described as a "so-called coalition" for mine-clearing operations. According to Gharibabadi, Iranian officials repeatedly informed the coalition that they would not be granted permission to conduct such operations. He said Iran warned that any foreign naval vessels approaching the Strait of Hormuz for mine-clearing purposes would be regarded as legitimate military targets by the Islamic Republic. He also asserted that, under an existing agreement, mine-clearing in the area should be carried out by Iran.
The deputy foreign minister also said that on the day Iranian officials held negotiations with Omani representatives, the United States announced that it would not undertake military action. He added that Iran's armed forces subsequently decided not to carry out military operations either.
Gharibabadi further stated that Iran had not requested talks with the United States during the previous 17 days. Instead, he claimed that U.S. officials initiated contact and, about 10 days earlier, sent messages seeking to de-escalate the confrontation. According to him, the U.S. suggested that if the Strait of Hormuz was the source of the dispute, Iran and Oman should reach a mutual understanding.
He concluded by saying that Omani officials had proposed bringing in a third country to conduct mine-clearing operations in the southern section of the Strait of Hormuz, but Iran did not grant permission.
