WASHINGTON, July 10 – The United States is demanding that Iran publicly state it will stop attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz and that all lanes in the strait will be open to shipping with no tolls, senior U.S. officials said on Friday.
The officials said conversations between the two countries had been productive in recent days. They made the comments to a small group of reporters in a conference call.
“What we’re demanding is that the Iranians issue a public statement that acknowledges all channels of the Strait of Hormuz are open and they’re not shooting at ships anymore. They’re either going to give us that statement or we’re not having a good outcome for them,” one official said.
Iran has told Washington that recent attacks on shipping in the Strait were from “an errant part of their system,” one senior official said.
There seems to be a power struggle unfolding in real time between hardliners in Iran and pragmatists, an official said.
Three ships were attacked this week, prompting U.S. President Donald Trump to respond with U.S. strikes on Iranian targets. He has declared that a June ceasefire the two sides signed is over. REUTERS