By New York Post (World News) | Created at 2026-08-08 19:05:44 | Updated at 2026-08-08 19:13:19
11 minutes ago
Iran’s top security official Saturday threw cold water on hopes for a full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz — declaring the waterway will not be restored to normal traffic “until America corrects its behavior.”
The comments came as Iran appeared close to a limited deal with Oman to reopen a narrow passage for some vessels, but stop short of restoring normal traffic through the strategic waterway.
Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr, a former IRGC deputy commander, issued Iran’s sweeping conditions for a full reopening in a message released Saturday.
The demands involve a complete US military withdrawal from the region, removal of the naval blockade, the lifting of sanctions against Iran including the release of blocked and seized assets, paying Iran for the damages caused by the war and ending attacks against Iran’s allies in the Middle East.
“The Supreme National Security Council will never back down, neither in war nor in negotiations,” Zolqadrc threatened, according to state-controlled Tasnim News Agency.
Iran also wants permanent strategic control of the waterway and being able to impose a toll of up to 7%.
Earlier in the day, an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps spokesperson said the critical waterway wouldn’t permanently reopen until the US fully accepted Iran’s “legal and logical conditions.”
“The reopening of the Strait of Hormuz is subject to the specific mechanisms and conditions of the Islamic Republic of Iran and is not related to the negotiations between Iran and Oman,” IRGC General Hossein Mohebbi told reporters in Iran’s southern province of Hormozgan.
“Whenever the American side accepts the conditions of the Islamic Republic of Iran and abandons its interventionist approach, the conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz will certainly be provided.”
That roadblock came even as a deal brokered by President Trump envoy’s, Steve Witkoff, would establish a temporary Iran-Oman managed shipping corridor with no tolls or permissions required.
It would be followed by a 60-day window on a permanent end to the war, with the US pledging to lift its naval blockade the moment the deal is signed.
Trump has paused US strikes on Iran — calling off a major military assault on Iranian energy sites last weekend as diplomacy appeared to gain traction — but has repeatedly warned the bombing will resume if negotiations collapse.
Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates denounced what it said was a “hostile Iranian attack,” after one of Abu Dhabi’s National Oil Company’s vessels transiting through the Strait of Hormuz was struck by a missile in the early hours of Saturday.
“Targeting commercial shipping and using the Strait of Hormuz as a tool of economic coercion or blackmail represents an act of piracy by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps and constitutes a direct threat to the stability of the region,” the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on X.
The oil-rich Gulf nation added Iran needed to stop its “unprovoked attacks” and ensure its commitment to a “complete and unconditional” reopening of the Strait.
With attacks still a very real threat, only a fraction of ships are risking passage, with traffic in recent days at less than 10% of pre-war levels.
