LAST TIME Tehran's first reaction after the truce announced by Trump. What will happen in the Strait of Hormuz
The Foreign Minister of Tehran said, on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, that “safe transit” through the Strait of Hormuz will be possible for two weeks, following the announcement made by President Donald Trump regarding the truce between the US and Iran, reports Sky News, CNN and The Guardian.
In a statement issued on behalf of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), the head of Iranian diplomacy, Seyed Abbas Araqchi, said that during the two weeks, safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz “will be possible through coordination with the Armed Forces of Iran and taking into account technical limitations.”
He also said that Iran will stop its attacks if the attacks against it also stop.
The reopening of the strait under the coordination of Iranian forces will give Iran “a unique economic and geopolitical position,” the statement said.
Araqchi also expressed gratitude to Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir for urging Trump to implement the ceasefire.
The 10-point plan sent to the US by Iran
The SNSC statement said Iran had submitted a 10-point plan to the United States, through Pakistan, the country that brokered the ceasefire, which included the following demands:
- Cessation of attacks by US and Israeli forces and withdrawal of US forces from “all bases and positions in the region”;
- Establishing a transit protocol in the Strait of Hormuz to ensure Iran's control under an agreed agreement;
- Full compensation for the damage caused to Iran and “removal of all sanctions and relevant resolutions of the Board of Governors and the UN Security Council”;
- Unlocking all frozen Iranian assets globally;
- The adoption of all these provisions in a so-called “binding resolution of the UN Security Council”.
When and where will the negotiations begin
The statement issued on behalf of the SNSC mentions that the negotiations will begin on Friday, April 10, in Islamabad (the capital of Pakistan), but stresses that this does not mean the end of the war.
“If the surrender of the enemy on the battlefield turns into a decisive political achievement in the negotiations, we will celebrate this great historic victory together; otherwise, we will continue to fight side by side on the battlefield until all the demands of the Iranian nation are met. Our hands remain on the trigger, and any mistake by the enemy will be met with full force,” the SNSC added.
For weeks, Donald Trump has been urging Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial trade route through which a fifth of the world's oil transits. Its shutdown sent energy prices soaring, wreaking havoc on the world economy.
Trump had previously warned on Tuesday that “an entire civilization will perish tonight” (night Romanian time) if Iran does not reach an agreement.
And on Monday, the American president had threatened Iran. He warned that he would unleash “hell” on the country, attacking its bridges and power plants, if it did not reopen the Strait of Hormuz by Tuesday night into Wednesday.
