Iran repeats it will not compromise on its nuclear rights
The statement comes as mediators report progress on a deal swapping free passage through the Strait of Hormuz for an end to the US blockade of Iranian ports.
Published
Map: The Gulf and Hormuz, marking Strait of Hormuz
Iran's president's office said Tuesday that Iran will not compromise on its nuclear rights.
The statement repeats a position Tehran has held for weeks. Iran has said it will not even discuss its nuclear program until the Strait of Hormuz is reopened and the US blockade of its ports is lifted.
Mediators reported progress today on terms that would let traffic move freely through the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for the US easing its blockade of Iranian ports. Iran's own Tuesday deadline for a US reply on reopening the strait has passed without an answer. Iran has said it is awaiting a US response to a seven-point plan sent via Qatar.
Trump said Iran is failing very badly and that the nuclear issue will be over very soon, with oil prices to fall. He separately said the Iran war will end very soon. Vance said Iran must behave before any deal is possible.
The standoff has already cut Iran's oil exports. Because Tehran's no-compromise line applies only to the nuclear file, and it has tied talks on that file to a resolution on Hormuz and the blockade, the statement does not run against the separate track mediators are now working, and it leaves oil's risk premium largely unchanged.