JD Vance: Iran informed the US that it will fully open the Strait of Hormuz
In an interview with Fox News, the US Vice President clarified that negotiations with Iran are still ongoing and require a return to the oil and gas export levels that existed before the war.
US Vice President JD Vance gave an interview today, Saturday, to the Fox News channel, addressing the negotiations with the Iranians and the situation in the Strait of Hormuz.
"We are in the 'mid-game' here," said Vance. "It's not over yet. Obviously, we are no longer at the beginning. We are deploying a whole range of tools — diplomatic, economic, and military — to ensure we achieve the best outcome for the American people. I am quite confident we will get there, but we are still, to some extent, in the middle of the game."
Vance added: "The Iranians have signaled that they seek to tighten their grip on the Strait of Hormuz. Our expectation is that we will see the same amount of oil and gas coming out of the Gulf as we saw before the conflict began. That is what the Iranians told us they intend to do, and it is what the entire coalition of Gulf states wants."
"But we don't trust them — we verify. We look in practice not at people's words, but at their actions. There are elements within the Iranian system that talk about collecting tolls. The Iranians told us they have no plans to collect tolls for passage through the Strait of Hormuz. But again, we will see what steps actually take place."
"Over the last week, the Iranians, the Gulf states, and especially Oman have been holding talks on how to ensure the safe passage of vessels. The problem is that the Iranians laid a large number of mines at the beginning of the war. We are working on establishing a traffic arrangement that will allow ships to pass safely. This includes mine clearance and a commitment from the Iranians that they will not fire at commercial vessels. They are being hit very hard and want this to end."
Meanwhile, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said today that Iran is ready to adopt the memorandum of understanding signed with the United States. According to him, "The war must end at some point, and his country is determined to adopt the memorandum of understanding as a basis, provided that the US abandons the atmosphere of distrust it has created."
As recalled, it was reported yesterday that Iran and Oman reached an understanding on a new framework regarding the regulation of vessel traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, as reported by the American network MS NOW (formerly MSNBC). The agreement concerns the geographical route of the shipping lanes. However, in Iran, officials claimed that this does not necessarily mean a full opening of the strait.
According to the emerging framework, vessels entering the Persian Gulf will pass through a route located in Iran's territorial waters, while vessels exiting it will pass through a route closer to Oman.
