A senior Iranian official said on Tuesday that Iran and the United States remain far apart on reaching an agreement to end the fighting, according to 第一财经. The official, who was not named, said Qatar, Egypt and other regional countries are working to narrow the differences, but the two sides still disagree sharply on core issues and the military standoff has not eased.
The official said Tehran will not accept what he described as excessive US demands. According to 第一财经, Iran's conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz include lifting oil sanctions, ending the US naval blockade and releasing frozen Iranian funds.
Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, also said the US response to Iran's requests was unconvincing, 第一财经 reports. Iran has further said that talks on the nuclear file cannot begin until its conditions are met.
The report points to active but difficult diplomacy: regional mediators are engaged, yet neither side has signaled a breakthrough. The same account indicates no softening in the military posture while the talks continue.
What to watch next is whether the mediating states can produce a US reply that Tehran considers acceptable, and whether that would move the parties toward talks on the strait and the nuclear question.