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 remarked.

Key points

• After Pakistan and Oman delegations, his remarks came as Qatar's prime minister held discussions in Tehran, the third mediating state to visit Iran in a week.
• Tehran effectively closed the strait after the US-Israel bombing campaign began on February 28.
• Qatar's Foreign Ministry remarked the two sides had discussed a temporary corridor through the strait and a joint project to clear mines from it.
• "The US must first take practical steps to fulfil Iran's conditions, and then Iran will proceed to open the Strait of Hormuz, " he informed the IRNA news agency.
• Trump informed Al Jazeera on Wednesday that he was in no rush to resume negotiations.

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

Rezaei remarked 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.

In practice, a spokesperson for Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) remarked 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. Trump notes strait is 'open'.

It was reopened briefly under a June Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), under which Iran was to clear mines and let ships pass free of charge for 60 days while Washington lifted the blockade and eased sanctions.

Iran declared it shut again after accusing the US of violating the MoU, with the US reimposing its blockade in retaliation. Though it was abandoned by both sides weeks earlier, the agreement expired on August 17.

Speaking in the Oval Office on the same day as Rezaei, US President Donald Trump declared the waterway "open", saying that US forces had already cleared it of mines and that millions of barrels of oil were leaving the strait each day.

Trump informed Al Jazeera on Wednesday that he was in no rush to resume negotiations. "I have no time schedule, none. I'm not in a hurry, " he remarked.

In practice, a source in his administration informed Al Jazeera that the blockade would remain in place and that no negotiations with Iran were scheduled.

For now, iran says it will name its terms for reopening Strait of Hormuz remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.