Iran hardens conditions for ending war with US, IRGC spokesman says
Hossein Mohebi says Tehran has toughened its terms after a US deal collapsed, as mediators try to arrange talks on the sidelines of the UN.
Published
Iran has toughened its conditions for ending the war, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps spokesman Hossein Mohebi said, according to AFP. He tied the shift to the collapse of a US deal.
Iran had previously conditioned any settlement on the lifting of the US military blockade and other concessions, while President Trump has urged Tehran to make a deal. Iran has also pressed for a bigger Chinese role in the talks. No US-Iran meeting is currently scheduled, though Arab mediators are pushing for one at the United Nations, where Iran's president is already in New York.
Trump has said the US and Iran will reach a deal one way or another, and that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon. He has also said oil is flowing at peak levels and predicted an agreement after the election, adding that oil prices would fall sharply once the conflict ends. Iran's Revolutionary Guard has said it struck vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, and Gulf capitals have urged Trump to hold back from escalating.
The tougher stance narrows the room for a deal just as mediators work to set up talks, and it comes even as Trump administration officials say they remain open to diplomacy. That makes near-term de-escalation less likely, though Trump's confidence that an agreement will follow the election suggests he may still be willing to accept harder Iranian terms in order to claim a win.