Oman and Iran are set to continue their talks on the future management of the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, Tehran's foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said Monday. The spokesperson said Oman's foreign minister will travel to Tehran to meet with Iranian officials. The two countries, whose shorelines include the strategic waterway, have been engaged in talks for weeks to negotiate how to manage the chokepoint.
Some details have emerged regarding the possible introduction of fees for ships transiting the strait, as well as specific routes for entering and exiting the area. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has warned Iran and its allies the U.S. will unleash an "economic D-Day" on Iran as part of a shift in strategy to pile economic pressure in the hope of breaking the stalemate in the conflict – a term first used by President Trump last week. Writing in the British Financial Times newspaper, Bessent said the measures would be the "the single greatest financial offensive ever marshalled against an adversary." The secretary also urged Iran's allies to sever ties with Tehran, saying that doing so would "deepen their access to global capital, reinforce confidence in their markets and attain the standing they seek in the world economy." Bessent is set to hold a news conference on Monday at which he will unveil the new measures.
After months of military pressure and a failed agreement to negotiate an end to the war, Mr. Trump signaled in recent weeks a shift in the strategy to exert economic pressure on Iran. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian defended the memorandum of understanding signed with the U.S. in June as the best way for the country to move beyond what he described as a situation of "neither war nor peace." In a speech published by state-run IRNA news agency Sunday, he said members of Iran's Supreme National Security Council believed the agreement was the best possible based on what he described as dignity, wisdom and the national interest.
"There is not a single provision in this agreement that amounts to capitulation," Pezeshkian said. "The supreme leader sets the policies, and we will follow that path." The deal known as the Memorandum of Understanding was signed by President Trump in June. It set an ambitious 60-day deadline for ending the war with Iran and reaching an accord on its nuclear program.
That period ended last week, after weeks of months of stalled progress and flare-ups, with both sides declaring they had abandoned it.. There appear to be no signs of compromise on the crucial issue of reopening the Strait of Hormuz, vital to global shipping. Iran on Saturday warned countries against participating in the United States' "economic war" against the Islamic republic, saying they would be considered enemies.
"We declare to all countries ... do not join the economic war waged by the United States. Any country participating in the imposition of economic restrictions against us is considered an enemy," Mohsen Rezai, the head of Iran's supreme national security council, said on state television. If the countries concerned refuse to "distance themselves" from the United States, Iran would "harm" their interests, he added.
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