Iran has accused the United States of trying to force open a new route through the Strait of Hormuz, bypassing Iranian authorities, a move it says violates the two countries’ interim peace deal and caused tensions there to spike.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi made the remarks in an interview published by Iranian media on Saturday, saying the US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in June gives Tehran the right to set transit routes and mechanisms for the strategic waterway.
Araghchi said Washington should have consulted with Tehran regarding any new routes, adding that the two sides had agreed to open a direct line of communication to resolve such disputes.
Araghchi’s remarks came amid some signs of de-escalation between the US and Iran, after weeks of strikes against each other’s interests all but destroyed their interim deal.
Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar, reporting from Tehran, said there had been “no direct attacks” by the US on major Iranian cities overnight on Saturday, a break from nearly two straight weeks of nightly strikes.
“Iran had a peaceful night”, Iran’s health ministry spokesperson, Hossein Kermanpour, said in a post on X.
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Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump appeared to soften on an earlier threat to carry out new “massive” attacks on Iran, saying that may no longer be necessary.
“They [Iranian officials] are talking to us right now; they’d love to make a deal,” Trump said on Friday night. “I don’t think they’re ready to … but I’m willing to listen.”
Iranian officials have confirmed to Al Jazeera that the US and Iran are exchanging messages.
“There have been proposals conveyed by the mediators, and Tehran is still reviewing them,” said Serdar.
However, he said there is “not much progress yet”, citing “fundamental differences” in their positions and deep “mistrust”.
Control over the Strait of Hormuz has become a central point of contention between the US and Iran.
Iran claims it has the right to oversee passage through the strait under the MoU, calling on vessels to coordinate with its authorities and use designated routes. The US disputes this interpretation and has repeatedly said Iran does not control the strait.
‘Hot and cold approach’
With Iranian forces attacking ships it accuses of “violating” its arrangements in the strait, the US military has reimposed its own blockade of Iranian ports.
On Friday, US Central Command spokesman Tim Hawkins told Al Jazeera the US had “disabled” a tanker that repeatedly tried to breach the US blockade and ignored US warnings.
On Thursday, the US military claimed it had redirected a total of 12 vessels and “disabled” another since restarting the blockade on July 14.
Former Austrian Defence Attache Wolfgang Pusztai said the US is using all forms of strategy with Iran, including diplomacy, economic pressure through its blockade and military action.
“All three of them are coordinated in a way to achieve the strategic objectives of the United States. This means, first and foremost, right now an opening of the Strait of Hormuz,” Pusztai told Al Jazeera.
“There is some kind of hot and cold approach in order to facilitate the wish, the desire of the Iranians to achieve an end to the whole war. So one night they are bombarded, one night they are not bombarded.”
Iran’s Houthi allies in Yemen have also waded into the conflict, disrupting traffic in another vital shipping artery, the Bab al-Mandeb strait.
The Saudi-led Coalition Joint Forces Command on Friday claimed attacks on Yemen’s Houthi-held city of Hodeidah, saying all targets bombed were “linked to threats against commercial shipping in the Red Sea”.
On Saturday, Saudi Arabia’s Civil Defence said sirens sounded multiple times in the country’s Yanbu and Jizan provinces, which house crucial oil facilities on the Red Sea. Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree claimed the group carried out attacks on facilities linked with Saudi state oil firm Aramco in the area.
The Saudi civil defence said the sirens were because of a “potential danger” that was later lifted, without providing further details.
Al Jazeera
