Iran is compiling a formal list of conditions it will require before reopening the Strait of Hormuz, according to Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of the country’s Supreme National Security Council, who said Thursday that international mediators had asked Tehran to set out its terms in writing.
Rezaei said ending the broader regional war was among the core conditions under consideration, though he did not disclose the full list. His remarks came as Qatar’s prime minister held talks in Tehran — the third mediating country to visit within a week, following delegations from Pakistan and Oman. Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said discussions had covered a proposed temporary shipping corridor through the strait and a joint mine-clearing project.
The move follows an earlier, more detailed set of demands laid out this month by Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, secretary of the same security council, who said the strait would remain closed until the United States “corrects its behavior.” Those conditions reportedly included an end to strikes on Iran and its regional allies in Lebanon, Palestine, Yemen and Iraq, the lifting of a parallel U.S. naval blockade, the withdrawal of American naval and air forces from around Iran, the removal of sanctions, the release of frozen Iranian assets, and compensation for war damages.
Iran has maintained an effective blockade of the strategic waterway since U.S. and Israeli strikes on the country in February, occasionally targeting vessels it accuses of attempting to circumvent its preferred shipping route. The disruption contributed to the collapse of an earlier ceasefire in April.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has sought to separate the technical negotiations over shipping routes from the broader question of reopening the strait, saying changes to maritime corridors are a technical and legal matter that does not amount to the strait’s full reopening. He has also said there are no ongoing direct negotiations between Tehran and Washington, even as intermediaries continue efforts to revive talks.
The Trump administration has previously insisted on the complete, unconditional reopening of the strait and has rejected Iran’s bid to charge transit tolls or exercise unilateral control over the waterway, while separately demanding Iran eliminate its nuclear program.
