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Iran and the United States dashed hopes of an imminent breakthrough in the three-month war on Monday, with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying there would be a good deal or Washington would deal with the country differently.
Rubio told reporters in New Delhi that the US will give diplomacy every chance to succeed before exploring “alternatives,” after President Donald Trump on Sunday told his representatives not to rush into any deal with Iran.
There was “something very strong on the table about their ability to open the strait, to open the strait, to enter into real, substantive, time-bound negotiations on the nuclear issue, and hopefully we can pull it off,” Rubio said.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday that Iran is negotiating an end to the war and is not currently discussing nuclear issues.
The speaker added that a framework has been reached but no one can say that an agreement between the US and Iran is close. The potential memorandum of understanding did not contain specific details on the management of the Strait of Hormuz, which belongs to coastal countries, he said.
The day before, Trump wrote on Truth Social that the US blockade of Iranian vessels in the Strait of Hormuz “will remain in full force until an agreement is reached, ratified, and signed.”
“Both parties must take their time and adjust,” he added.
The Trump administration says there has been progress toward a peace deal with Iran that could include reopening the Strait of Hormuz, but the exact details of the deal and the timeline remain a mystery.
Trump raised hopes for an imminent deal on Saturday when he said Washington and Tehran had “very negotiated” a peace deal that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
A spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry said on Monday that Iran would not charge tolls when passing through the important waterway, but added that “it is normal that the services provided require a price.”
Before the conflict, the strait carried a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas exports.
The two sides are still at odds on several difficult issues, such as Iran’s nuclear ambitions, Israel’s war in Lebanon with Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters and Tehran’s demands for an end to sanctions and the release of billions of dollars in Iranian oil revenues frozen in foreign banks.
Iranian sources told Reuters that in the coming stages, “possible formulas” could be found to resolve the dispute over the stockpile of highly enriched uranium, including cleaning up the material under the supervision of the UN nuclear watchdog.
Temporary suspension
Iran has long denied allegations by the US and Israel that it is pursuing nuclear weapons and says it has the right to enrich uranium for civilian purposes, although the purity it has achieved far exceeds that needed to generate electricity.
Trump, whose approval ratings have been affected by the impact of the war on US energy prices, and who has faced congressional efforts to limit his war powers, has repeatedly played up the hope of an agreement to end the conflict that the US and Israel started on February 28.
A strict ceasefire has been in place since early April.
The president has hit back at critics of his handling of negotiations and his willingness to compromise with Iran.
“If I make a deal with Iran, it will be good and proper … So don’t listen to the losers, who are criticizing something they know nothing about,” Trump said on Sunday.
More than 10 weeks into the war and without a clear end, US President Donald Trump says the cessation of hostilities between the US and Iran is based on ‘great support for life.’ Andrew Chang explains why the US strategy to end the conflict – which Trump says will last no more than a month – is falling apart. (Image credits: The Canadian Press, Reuters, Adobe Stock and Getty Images)
Any deal that strengthens the fragile armistice will bring relief to markets but will not immediately ease the global energy crisis, which has driven up the cost of fuel, fertilizer and food.
The US-Israeli bombing of Iran killed thousands of people in Iran before it was halted in early April.
Israel has also killed thousands of others and driven hundreds of thousands from their homes in Lebanon, which attacked in pursuit of the terrorist group Hezbollah. Iran’s strikes on Israel and neighboring Gulf states have killed dozens.
