Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran is fully prepared to resume fighting with the US but has not given up on diplomacy, leaving the choice to US President Donald Trump.
“We are fully prepared for the time for the war to resume, and I repeat, we stand firm in the face of any new aggression, even if it comes to a doomsday war,” Araghchi told CBS News on Sunday, when asked about a Wall Street Journal report that Trump could seek to resume bombing after the US midterm elections in November.
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“At the same time, we stand ready for diplomacy. It is up to President Trump to choose.”
Araghchi said Iran had not yet received an official communication through mediators regarding Trump’s public rejection of a proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
He reiterated that Iran was willing to reopen the strait as part of an agreement to end the conflict. In return, “we want our monies, our assets which are illegally frozen, to be released. We want to be able to sell our oil.”
According to Araghchi, those conditions were “not new” and had previously been agreed to by the US under the now-collapsed memorandum of understanding signed in June.
“If you ask us, there is no reason why we should go back to diplomacy,” Araghchi said. “But I am still trying diplomacy because I think we shouldn’t miss any chance for peace.”
On the possibility of renewed US action after the midterm elections, Araghchi said, “We care about our national interests.”
TRUMP REJECTS IRAN PROPOSAL BUT EXPECTS MORE TALKS
Iran announced its latest peace proposal at the UN General Assembly last week and said it had been conveyed to the United States through Qatari mediators.
Trump said on Saturday that he had rejected the proposal, arguing that Iran was pushing for an immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz because it was under severe pressure.
“They want to make a deal to open the Hormuz Strait immediately because they’re losing so badly,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
Keeping the door to diplomacy open, however, Trump told Axios in a phone interview on Sunday that he expected US negotiators to engage in more talks this week.
Araghchi told reporters at the UN on Friday that the proposed deal would trigger a seven-day countdown to reopening the Strait of Hormuz and a pause in regional fighting.
“If there is seriousness on the US side to come to a deal and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, everything is now prepared,” Araghchi said. If the US were to agree, the warring parties could start wider talks “on mutually agreed subjects.”
Iranian officials said the proposal could provide a route towards broader negotiations, including discussions on Tehran’s nuclear programme.
IRAN AWAITS FORMAL US RESPONSE
Araghchi said mediators involved in talks between Tehran and Washington had not formally conveyed a US rejection of the proposal.
“We are waiting for the mediators to convey the definitive views to us, and we will make a decision based on them,” he said.
He also said any reopening of the Strait of Hormuz would depend on Iran’s conditions being met.
“Our conditions are clear, and any move toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz is contingent on these conditions being met,” Araghchi said. “Only a negotiated solution can get them out of this deadlock.”
The Iranian position came as the Trump administration argued that Tehran had sought major concessions before agreeing to substantive negotiations.
US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz said Iran had asked for sanctions relief and other measures upfront, while Washington wanted guarantees that talks would lead to an end to Iran’s nuclear programme.
Speaking to CNN’s State of the Union, Waltz said Iran was effectively asking for concessions before committing to negotiations.
“So the bottom line is they were asking for everything up front with a promise that they would then talk,” Waltz said. “The president’s just not confident that the Iranians are coming in good faith and that they will truly negotiate the end of their nuclear programme.”
PEZESHKIAN SAYS IRAN READY FOR TALKS
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran was prepared to negotiate over its nuclear programme and other issues but would not accept pressure or coercion.
“Iran is not seeking war, but will defend itself against pressure, threats and attacks,” Pezeshkian told CBS’s Face the Nation.
He also said Iran had already agreed that it was “not supposed to develop nuclear weapons”.
Trump has repeatedly identified preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon as a key US objective. His administration has also sought to curb Iran’s ability to attack neighbouring countries.
HORMUZ STANDOFF DISRUPTS OIL FLOWS
The diplomatic efforts have taken place against the backdrop of an increasingly severe standoff over the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial global energy route.
The United States has imposed an economic blockade on Iran in an effort to pressure Tehran to stop attacks on vessels in the waterway. Shipping through the strait has been drastically reduced, disrupting oil flows and adding to pressure on the global economy.
Iranian army commander Amir Hatami said Tehran would not accept a situation in which Iran was prevented from trading while foreign powers continued to use the region’s strategic waterways.
“If Iran cannot trade, if Iran cannot live, no one will be able to trade or live,” he said, according to Iranian state media.
The confrontation over Hormuz has also become central to the diplomatic efforts. Araghchi said that once the waterway was reopened under the proposed agreement, the two sides could move towards wider negotiations on issues agreed upon by both sides.
SAUDI ARABIA DRAWN DEEPER INTO CONFLICT
The latest diplomatic push follows months of fighting that began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28.
The conflict has alternated between periods of reduced fighting and renewed strikes, killing thousands and damaging Iran’s conventional military capabilities and already struggling economy.
Iran and its allies have also expanded the conflict across the region. Iran has launched drone and missile attacks against US allies in the Gulf, while its Houthi allies in Yemen have targeted Saudi interests.
Saudi Arabia has been drawn deeper into the conflict this month as Houthi fighters have advanced in Yemen, routing forces of the Saudi-backed government and threatening Saudi oil exports through the Red Sea.
The Iran-backed Houthis have repeatedly fired towards Saudi Arabia. In a possible sign of the growing security concerns, schools in Riyadh shifted to remote learning for the week, according to notices received by parents on Sunday. The notices did not provide a reason, and Saudi authorities did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In Yemen, the Houthi-run health ministry said seven people were killed and 40 wounded, including children, in a strike on shops at a market at the Mawiya junction in Taiz province.
Yemen’s internationally recognised government later said its forces had targeted a Houthi military camp and vehicles at the same location.
The continuing disruption to the Strait of Hormuz and the wider regional conflict have kept energy flows and the global economy under pressure, even as Washington and Tehran continue to leave open the possibility of further negotiations.
– Ends
With inputs from Reuters
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
