Qalibaf: Strait of Hormuz will not reopen until Iran's terms are met

The Strait of Hormuz will not reopen until seven Iranian conditions drawn from a June interim agreement with the United States are met, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said Sunday, according to the Nournews agency. 

His remarks came days after Tehran received Washington's reply to its diplomatic proposal.

"The Americans, who say something different in the media, have recently put forward proposals through a mediator," Qalibaf said. "But they must understand that the period of dragging out the process and dictating one-sided demands is over." He said Iran's position was "completely clear and firm", and based on the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, signed in June.

A familiar script

The declaration follows a well-worn pattern. Only days earlier, Iranian officials were offering to reopen the strait within seven days if the US eased its pressure, a proposal President Trump rejected. 

Qalibaf now presents the same waterway as a bargaining chip until Washington meets Iran's terms. Many analysts read this alternation of conciliatory offers and hard-line ultimatums as the regime's standard playbook. It is aimed at audiences at home and abroad, and rarely changes anything at sea.

Iran's complaint about "unilateral demands" also sits awkwardly with its own conduct. Tehran has kept traffic through the strait at a trickle for months and has threatened ships it accuses of bypassing its preferred route.

Fighting resumed on July 8, after the memorandum had set a 60-day window to negotiate a final deal. No agreement has emerged since, and neither side has signaled concessions.