TEHRAN, Aug 18 (dpa) -- Iran is demanding the implementation of the framework agreement signed with the United States in mid-June as a condition for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Tuesday.
The waterway, which is critical for global energy trade, will remain closed for as long as the US fails to honour its obligations under the agreement, Ghalibaf told a parliamentary session.
These obligations included "lifting the naval blockade, releasing frozen assets, lifting oil sanctions and ending threats and military operations on all fronts," he said.
The conflict between Iran and the US escalated again in early July, when Iranian forces fired on commercial vessels in the strait. Intensive US military bombardments of Iran's southern coast followed. Iran then attacked US bases and energy installations in the Gulf states.
A 60-day period during which the parties had intended to continue negotiations expired on Monday. While there have been fewer mutual attacks in the Iran war recently, the central points of dispute, including the contested Iranian nuclear programme, remain unresolved.
US President Donald Trump cannot withdraw from the war, Vali Nasr, a professor at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, wrote on X. "That would need a ceasefire, and a degree of control over the war which he does not have. The war is in a holding pattern, each side waiting for the right moment and opportunity to strike," he said, adding that Iran's leadership was prepared to disrupt Trump's plans through escalation.
--NNN-dpa