The Strait of Hormuz “will not go back to what it was.” Iran's army, a new defiant message about the negotiations circulated by Trump
An Iranian military spokesman, Ebrahim Zolfaghari, said Wednesday that it is Tehran that determines who is allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. He also mocked the negotiation efforts supported by the United States, characterizing them as “a flight from prolonging the war”.
The situation in the Strait of Hormuz, where about a fifth of the global supply of oil and liquefied natural gas passed in peacetime, “will not return to what it was,” the representative of the Iranian military said in a defiant video message on Wednesday, according to The New York Times.
“The authority to issue passes is ours,” continued Ebrahim Zolfaghari, adding that the “intensity of the flames” affecting oil prices is “in our hands.”
“As you flee from prolonging the war,” Iran's military spokesman said, referring to U.S.-backed negotiation efforts, “the strength of our armed forces is growing with each passing moment.”
Also on Wednesday, Zolfaghari had publicly rejected the US president's proposal for a ceasefire. Several sources cited by the New York Times, Bloomberg and Reuters spoke of a 15-point peace plan that would have been sent to Iran through Pakistan.
“Has your internal struggle reached the point where you (Trump) are negotiating with yourself?” was the ironic statement of the Iranian military spokesman.
Instead, privately, some Iranian officials had said late Tuesday that Tehran was considering talking to US negotiators in Islamabad, Pakistan, next week to address Trump's proposal, but would not accept a temporary ceasefire.
Iran fears future attacks in the event of a ceasefire
The officials involved explained that Iran does not want a temporary halt to the fighting because it fears that Israel and the United States will use the opportunity to build up their forces before resuming attacks.
A senior Iranian political security official told Press TV, the English-language channel of Iran's state television, that an eventual cessation of hostilities would only occur on the terms and at a pace set by Iran.
Tehran, he added, “will not allow Donald Trump to dictate the moment of ending the conflict.”
He claims that Iran has conveyed to the United States, through an intermediary, that it will continue to defend itself and has set five conditions for ending the conflict.
