TEHRAN: Iran’s foreign ministry on Monday said it was not currently involved in negotiations with the United States, despite a halt in recent fighting between the two sides.
“Mediators may convey messages from the American side to us regarding current developments in the region. But at present, we are not engaged in any negotiations with the United States,” ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said at a weekly press briefing.
“Claims that Iran has requested negotiations are fabrications that the other side circulates from time to time,” he added.
Hostilities resumed between Iran and the United States earlier this month after diplomatic efforts collapsed amid an impasse regarding the Strait of Hormuz.
Baqaei criticized the United States, saying its conduct in recent years has “resembled that of a mafia gang that adheres to no rules or laws.”
“So long as such behavior by the United States continues, we cannot be hopeful about the emergence of a reasonable process,” he added.
The United States and Iran paused their attacks for a second straight day on Sunday, as efforts continued to bring them back to negotiations on an interim ceasefire deal largely undermined by recent exchanges of fire, as Donald Trump’s UN envoy said the president was “giving talks some space.”
Iran said it had halted retaliatory attacks against Washington’s allies in the Middle East, and US ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz told “Fox News Sunday” that, while forces remained “locked and loaded,” Trump would give negotiations “a little bit of room.”
Oil prices fell on Asian markets early Monday as investors breathed cautious sighs of relief at the pause in combat.
Prior to Friday, the US military had carried out strikes on Iran for 13 consecutive nights, in the largest rekindling of the almost five-month-old war since an April ceasefire. Friday and Saturday nights passed without bombing.
“These attacks continued until two nights ago, but over the past two nights the Americans have stopped their attacks,” said Iran’s army spokesman Mohammad Akraminia.
“Since … our strategy has essentially been retaliatory, we have also halted our retaliatory operations.”
Fighting over the strategic Strait of Hormuz derailed diplomatic efforts between Washington and Tehran, but the conflict then expanded beyond the vital energy corridor to include attacks on US bases, regional shipping and Gulf allies.
Unconfirmed Iranian media reports on Sunday said an oil tanker had been damaged by a sea mine.
Tehran in recent days has counterattacked against countries in the region hosting US military forces, killing at least three service members at a base in Jordan and one in Iraq.
A regional official calls the pause a ‘positive signal’
The 60-day period that began when the interim deal was signed by both countries in mid-June is now well into its second half, and major issues that were meant to be negotiated — notably Iran’s nuclear program at the heart of tensions — remain set aside as mediators try to keep both sides talking.
A regional official involved in mediation efforts said diplomacy was underway and that a pause in US and Iranian strikes was a “positive signal that helps their efforts to de-escalate.”
The official said both countries want to return to the interim ceasefire deal and that a compromise being negotiated centers on having Iran run vessel transit through the Strait of Hormuz with fewer restrictions on ships. The official was not authorized to discuss the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Iran on Sunday said it continued to speak with Oman about managing the safe passage of ships on the Strait of Hormuz, which passes between the countries.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, said talks had made progress and continued.
Baghaei, however, accused Washington of destroying the basis for dialogue by violating a 14-point Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, saying the United States had “betrayed diplomacy” for the third time in a year. He said Iran had fulfilled its commitments to facilitate safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, but accused the US of launching “massive military aggression” and imposing restrictions on shipping shortly after the agreement was signed.
Baghaei also said the strait’s status remained unchanged. Tehran has asserted that the interim deal with the US allows it to manage shipping on the waterway for now, and it has objected to US efforts to support a route through the strait that passes close to Oman instead. The strait was considered an international waterway before the war.
The US military on Saturday said its recently reimposed naval blockade against Iran continued, with a dozen commercial ships redirected, two disabled and two boarded. US forces “remain highly vigilant, focused, lethal, and ready,” it added.
Shipping traffic on the strait is at a 3-week low
Concerns continued about shipping on the strait and now on another crucial waterway in the region, the Bab El-Mandeb strait to the Red Sea. Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen last week threatened a blockade of Saudi shipping there.
‘One way or the other’
The lull has revived hopes of a return to negotiations, although American media reported the pause could also reflect pressure on US stockpiles of Patriot interceptors and other defensive weapons.
Waltz dismissed this idea, in a second interview with NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”
“I want to be crystal clear. The US military — and I’ve verified this every which way — has everything that it needs to conduct this campaign as effectively as it needs to be,” he insisted.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due at the White House on Tuesday, and is expected to urge Trump to continue to take a tough line on Tehran, in particular on its nuclear program.
Iran has long insisted the program is for civilian purposes but the US and its allies allege it is aimed at developing a weapon.
Also speaking to Fox News, Netanyahu said he fully backed Trump’s efforts to shut down Iran’s nuclear program.
“If he can do so without returning to intense military fighting, that’s fine. Why not? But one way or the other, they have to end their nuclear program, and with a deal or without a deal, that has to come to an end,” he said.
Plans to escalate the US campaign have been shelved in part because of shrinking munitions supplies, The New York Times reported, citing two people briefed on the matter.
New front
Trump also faces the risk of a wider Middle East war, the estrangement of vulnerable Gulf allies and further shocks to the global economy, the newspaper said.
Trump said on Friday he had not decided whether to return to an all-out operation.
“We’re talking to them right now. I think they’re getting more and more serious,” he told journalists.
The war that Trump once predicted would last four or five weeks is now nearing its fifth month and weighing on the Republican’s approval ratings ahead of crucial US midterm elections in November.
On Sunday locals in Tehran carried on with a normal day, dealing with heavy traffic jams on their way to work, an AFP journalist said.
Shops and restaurants were open as usual as the city suffered a heatwave.
