Iran says US "excessive demands" are hindering negotiations

Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi had earlier said the Strait of Hormuz could reopen within six days if the US meets Tehran's conditions.

Iran says excessive demands from Washington are blocking progress in nuclear talks, repeating a complaint it has made since late September.

The statement does not specify which US conditions Tehran considers excessive, and it comes well after the diplomatic track was overtaken by events at sea. Iran's navy has claimed US forces struck its Konark naval base, a claim Washington has not confirmed, and Iran said afterward it had no choice but to assert control over the Strait of Hormuz. An IRGC spokesman has said Iran could widen its blockade to the Bab al-Mandeb and the Suez, and said Hormuz is not yet fully closed. Iran's army chief has separately vowed the strait stays closed until Iran's rights are honored.

Tanker traffic through Hormuz has stayed depressed, with mines, fires and a sinking reported in the waterway, and Iran has reported a further tanker struck a mine there. Araghchi had said the strait could reopen within six days, with talks resuming on the seventh day, if the US meets Iran's conditions.

Tuesday's statement restates Tehran's position rather than signaling a new break in talks. But a rhetorical complaint about negotiating terms carries less weight than it would have in September, before the Konark strike and the threats to target US vessels near Hormuz. The practical standoff, stalled talks alongside an operationally degraded strait, remains unchanged by this statement alone.