Iran’s president says Iran would return to ceasefire agreement if US does

Iran is ready to return to the ceasefire deal reached with the United States in June if Washington does the same, President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Tuesday, in conciliatory remarks following the first exchange of fire between the two countries in a month.

“If the US returns to its commitments in the memorandum of understanding, the Islamic Republic of Iran will immediately reciprocate,” Iranian state media cited Pezeshkian as saying at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Kyrgyzstan.

The June memorandum of understanding called for an immediate ceasefire and started a 60-day period for negotiations aimed at reaching a wider peace deal. Iran agreed to clear the Strait of Hormuz of mines and allow ships to pass during the period, and the U.S. agreed to end its naval blockade, lift sanctions, issue waivers for Iranian oil exports and begin work on a reconstruction package for Iran, among other things.

The agreement broke down quickly, and while there had been a lull in fighting, the two sides exchanged fire at the weekend.

Iran working with Oman on managing shipping traffic

Iran has been working with Oman, which sits on the south side of the Strait of Hormuz, on a framework for managing shipping traffic, though it remains unclear whether the plan would be acceptable to the US.

Other Gulf nations have stressed the need to reopen the strait unconditionally.

On Tuesday, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, met with Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, according to the Saudi Press Agency, which said the two discussed “ongoing efforts to maintain regional security and stability,” but did not mention the Strait of Hormuz specifically.

Two ships attacked in and around Strait of Hormuz

The British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre said it received reports of an attack on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, and a second report of an incident involving a nearby tanker.

The UKMTO said a tanker was hit by three projectiles on Monday on its way out of the Persian Gulf through the strait east of Oman.

In the second incident on the same day, the centre received a report “involving a tanker and military forces” off the coast of Oman, east of the Strait of Hormuz.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks.

No surrender through diplomacy, says Iran's speaker

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said on Tuesday that Iran controls the Strait of Hormuz.

The Strait of Hormuz “is a place where at least 120 ships used to transit every 24 hours” he said in a video posted on a state TV Telegram channel.

“Even if two or three ships manage to pass through on some nights now, that in fact shows that we have control over the entire Strait of Hormuz.”

“The information we have — open and covert, visible and hidden — shows us that after failing in the military and diplomatic arenas, the enemy has added a very broad economic war and cognitive war to its military campaign,” Qalibaf said.

“The enemy’s objective in this hybrid war is to create unrest and chaos inside the country. That is their malicious intention. ... Or they may try to force us to surrender through diplomacy. Never.”