By Sofiat Adenekan-Abdul
Iran has urged the United States to accept its conditions for ending the ongoing conflict, saying the reopening of the strategic Strait of Hormuz depends on Washington meeting its demands.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said military action and additional sanctions would not resolve the conflict, insisting that diplomacy remained the only way forward.
“The only solution is to adopt a language of respect, engage in diplomacy, and address Iran’s demands and conditions,” Araghchi told the IRNA news agency.
Tehran has proposed reopening the Strait of Hormuz within two days in exchange for a series of concessions from Washington.
Its demands include an end to the war on all fronts, the unfreezing of Iranian assets, the lifting of oil sanctions and the termination of the US counter-blockade of Iranian ports.
The proposal comes as US President Donald Trump expressed optimism about efforts to end the conflict following a meeting with Qatar’s Prime Minister at the White House.
In a social media post on Monday, Trump said there was “positive momentum” towards ending the war, adding that further US strikes against Iran were “quite unlikely”.
However, he maintained that the United States remained prepared to respond if necessary, saying it was “locked and loaded”.
Meanwhile, Iran’s security chief, Mohsen Rezaei, urged Washington to accept Tehran’s demands, dismissing reports of negotiations as misleading.
Diplomatic efforts involving Qatar and Pakistan are ongoing as both sides face pressure to find a resolution to the conflict, which began in late February following US-Israeli strikes that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
