Tehran will not cede control of Strait of Hormuz under draft US deal, says state media

TEHRAN: Iran’s state media said on Friday that under a draft agreement with the US, Tehran would not give up control over the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

“Iran makes no commitment in this text to cede the management of the strait or the restoration of conditions that existed prior to the American and Israeli military aggression,” according to the official IRNA news agency, which referred to “the broad outlines of the current text” being finalised.

Traffic through Hormuz, a vital global shipping route, has come under Iranian control since the outbreak of war with the US and Israel on Feb 28.

Iran, which has only allowed a trickle of ships to pass through the strait, has insisted that vessels obtain permission from its armed forces before transiting.

On Thursday, US President Donald Trump said he had called off planned strikes on Iran and claimed a deal to end the war could be signed in the coming days.

However, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said the country has “not reached a final conclusion” on an agreement.

On Friday, Iran’s Mehr news agency, quoting a source close to Iran’s negotiating team, published what it said was the text of a draft deal being finalised.

The draft, it said, would end the war on all fronts including Lebanon, see the release of US$24 billion in Iran’s frozen assets, and set a 60-day period for negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear programme.

It also includes the “suspension of sanctions on the sale” of Iran’s oil and petrochemical products, and “the complete lifting of the US naval blockade” on Iranian ports, which has been in place since April 13.

Mehr said the draft underscores the necessity for the US and its allies to pay Iran reparations for damage caused by the war and “to present reconstruction plans for Iran amounting to at least US$300 billion”.

“Final negotiations will not begin before the release of half of Iran’s blocked funds, suspension of Iran’s oil sanctions, and lifting of the naval blockade,” it added.

Iran’s nuclear programme has been a contentious issue for Washington, which has long insisted Tehran should give up its enrichment capabilities and transfer its stockpile of highly enriched uranium abroad.

The official IRNA news agency in a separate report said Iran would “negotiate only the nuclear programme solely within the framework of the Islamic republic’s fundamental principles”.

“Issues such as Iran’s right to enrich uranium and the retention of enriched material by the Islamic Republic of Iran will be emphasised with a view to their inclusion in the final agreement,” it said.