What is Iran looking for in any upcoming talks with the US?
After Iran and the United States exchanged attacks at the end of last week, attention has once again turned to diplomacy, with President Donald Trump
After Iran and the United States exchanged attacks at the end of last week, attention has once again turned to diplomacy, with President Donald Trump saying that the two sides would hold talks in Doha on Tuesday. But on Monday, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, rejected the premise that any technical-level negotiations with the US would be held in Qatar this week, and instead said that consultations would be ongoing with Qatari officials. Mehdi Fazaeli, a member of the Iranian supreme leader’s office, earlier told state television that talks scheduled with the US for Sunday were cancelled by Iranian negotiators after fundamental disagreements over the Strait of Hormuz and other issues. The reciprocal US-Iranian strikes, as well as Iran’s signalling that it is in no rush to return to talks, point to the fact that any upcoming discussions between Tehran and Washington will focus on implementing what has already been agreed to – particularly when it comes to the Strait of Hormuz, the vital maritime route that Iran seized upon as its major leverage point against the US during the war. Last week’s strikes were the first by either side since the memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed on June 17. The attacks restarted after Iran said a US-backed evacuation route for stranded vessels was unacceptable. A container ship and a tanker using the route were attacked on Thursday. The US, which blamed Iran for the attacks, then bombed infrastructure and installations on Iran’s southern islands, before Iran attacked US bases in Bahrain and Kuwait. Both sides accused each other of violating commitments made under the MoU, including Article 5, which says Iran will “make arrangements using its best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels with no charge for 60 days only from the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman and vice versa”.
The recent strikes have made clear the danger a lack of coordination over the Strait of Hormuz poses. Iran’s position is that it will not be bypassed, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi saying on Sunday that other countries should not “interfere in the issue of managing the Strait of Hormuz and the arrangements adopted by the Islamic Republic of Iran for reopening the Strait of Hormuz”. The foreign minister said that it would take at least a month to return the strait – one of the world’s most important energy export routes – to its capacity before the US-Israeli war on Iran began in late February. A military hotline between Iran and the US has also been floated by US Vice President JD Vance, but it does not appear to have had any tangible impact so far on preventing armed confrontations in the strait. The IRGC has indicated that it is not interested in such a channel. Iranian authorities have also said they plan on entrenching their hold over the Strait of Hormuz by extracting fees for insurance, environmental and other services, but any sort of tolls have been vehemently rejected by Washington and others. The MoU stipulates there will be no tolls for the 60-day duration. Access to frozen funds A big point of contention for Iran – and something that will also likely be on the agenda during any talks – is gaining access to the country’s own funds that have been frozen abroad for many years, as a result of US sanctions championed by the Trump administration. Trump and other officials have emphasised that any access to funds will only be made possible later, based on Iran’s performance in enforcing commitments. Iranian officials are trying to avoid a repeat of earlier arrangements in which funds were released in name only, but remained effectively inaccessible.
The BriefWire