CAIRO (AP) — Iran is offering to end its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz without addressing its nuclear program, two regional officials with knowledge of the proposal said Monday, as the country’s foreign minister visited Russia as an opportunity to consult with Moscow about a war against Israel and the United States.
Iran also wants the U.S. to end its blockade of the country as part of its offer, said the two officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door talks.
Pakistan is unlikely to support a new resolution passed by US President Donald Trump, who wants to end Iran’s nuclear program as part of an overall deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and make the ceasefire permanent.
“We hold all the cards. If they want to talk, they can come to us, or call us,” Trump told Fox News Channel on Sunday.
Axios news outlet first reported Iran’s proposal.
Foreign Minister of Iran is visiting Russia
Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency said Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in St. Petersburg on Monday morning ahead of a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. His trip over the weekend included two stops in Pakistan and a visit to Oman, which shares the Straits with Iran.
Araghchi’s visit Despite the cease-fire, the standoff between Iran and the US continues in the crucial Strait of Hormuz, where oil prices are high.
“This is a good opportunity for us to consult with our Russian friends about the developments related to the war during this period and what is happening now,” Araghchi said in a video interview posted by IRNA.
The talks were expected to take place in Islamabad
Pakistan is seeking to revive stalled talks between Iran and the US, and talks were expected to take place in Islamabad over the weekend. But US President Donald Trump has suggested that the talks could be held over the phone.
Araghchi said it was the US approach that “delayed the talks.”
“The former, despite progress, did not achieve its goals,” he said, citing what he called Washington’s “excessive demands.”
Trump has questioned who is in charge in Iran now, saying confusion within its theocracy made it difficult to reach a deal.
The White House said last week that it would send ambassadors Steve Wittkoff and Jared Kushner to Islamabad for historic one-on-one talks earlier this month. But Araghchi left the Pakistani capital on Saturday and shortly after Trump said he was canceling the mission because of a lack of progress with Iran.
“We can talk if they want, but we’re not going to send people,” Trump told Fox News on Sunday. He previously said on social media: “All they have to do is call!!!”
Arghachi later returned to Islamabad and also visited Muscat, the capital of Oman, before heading to Russia. He also had phone conversations with his Qatari and Saudi Arabian counterparts on Sunday.
Strait of Hormuz at the center of Iran’s discussions in Oman
A standoff remains in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, through which all commercial oil and natural gas normally pass, as Iran has restricted traffic through it and the US has imposed a blockade of Iranian ports.
The June contract for international benchmark Brent crude was trading at around $107 a barrel on Monday, down from $72 a barrel before the war broke out.
Oil prices have risen steadily since the start of the war and tankers loaded with crude oil have been stranded in the Persian Gulf, unable to safely transit the strait and reach global distribution points.
Two months into the war, the economic fallout has been mounting as global shipments of not only oil but also liquid natural gas, fertilizers and other supplies have been disrupted by the near closure of the strategic strait.
Iran wants to persuade Oman to support a mechanism to collect tolls from ships passing through the strait, according to a regional official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter.
Oman’s response was not immediately clear.
The official involved in the mediation effort also said that Iran has insisted on ending the US embargo before new talks and that mediators led by Pakistan are trying to bridge critical gaps between the countries.
Trump last week indefinitely extended the April 7 cease-fire between the U.S. and Iran that largely halted the war that began with the U.S.-Israeli strike on Iran on February 28. But a permanent solution to the war, which has killed thousands of people and shaken the global economy, remains elusive.
Ahead of Saturday’s events, Iran’s foreign ministry said any talks would be indirect and that Pakistani officials would act as go-betweens, reflecting Tehran’s vigilance after indirect talks last year and attacks on Iran by the US and Israel earlier this year.
Trump says Iran has made a ‘very good’ offer
Both sides continue to make military threats. Iran’s Joint Military Command warned on Saturday that it would face a “severe response” if the US continues its aggressive military operations, including naval blockades, looting and robbery.
Trump last week ordered the military to “shoot down” small boats that may be carrying mines in waterways.
Trump told reporters on Saturday that within 10 minutes of canceling Witkoff and Kushner’s trip to Islamabad, Iran had sent a “very good” offer.
He did not elaborate but emphasized that one of his conditions was that Iran “will not have nuclear weapons.” Iran’s status of enriched uranium has long been at the center of tensions. Tehran has 440 kilograms (970 pounds) of uranium enriched to 60% purity, a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels, according to the U.N. nuclear watchdog.
Since the war began, at least 3,375 people have been killed in Iran and at least 2,509 in Lebanon, where Israel-Hezbollah fighting resumed two days after the Iran war began. Another 23 have died in Israel and more than a dozen in the Gulf Arab states. 15 Israeli soldiers were killed in Lebanon, 13 US soldiers in the region and six UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon.
Another ceasefire – between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah – has been extended for three weeks. Hezbollah has not participated in Washington-brokered diplomacy.
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Gambrel reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Bekatoros reported from Athens, Greece. AP reporter Muneer Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this report.
