Iran’s top national security official warned Saturday that the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the United States “corrects its behavior,” issuing a sweeping list of demands as Vice President JD Vance said Washington remains in the “middle of the game” and is continuing to apply diplomatic, economic, and military pressure on Tehran.
Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and a former senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander, demanded that the United States end military action and threats against Iran and its regional allies, lift its naval blockade, withdraw U.S. naval and air forces from around Iran, compensate Tehran for war damages, lift sanctions, and unconditionally release frozen Iranian assets.
“Until America corrects its behavior, the Strait of Hormuz will not be reopened,” Zolghadr said in a statement carried by Iranian state media.
“These are the demands of the Iranian people, which they have loudly proclaimed during 160 days of steadfast presence in the field and in the streets,” he said.
Zolghadr also vowed that Iran’s Supreme National Security Council “will never back down, whether in war or in negotiations.”
The far-reaching conditions cast fresh doubt on whether an emerging Iran-Oman navigation agreement will actually result in a broader reopening of Hormuz, despite days of indications that a temporary arrangement was nearing completion.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Saturday that Tehran and Muscat were close to finalizing the navigation framework — while stressing that Iran would not consider the agreement itself sufficient to reopen the strait.
“We believe we are very close to a final agreement. However, this does not indicate the reopening of the strait,” Araghchi told reporters.
“Reopening the strait is contingent upon other conditions and compensation for the United States’ violation of the Memorandum of Understanding,” he said.
Araghchi was referring to the June U.S.-Iran framework, which later collapsed after Iranian forces resumed attacks on commercial vessels using the U.S.-backed route through Hormuz, prompting renewed American military action.
The emerging agreement would initially establish temporary shipping routes through Hormuz while Iran and Oman work toward a new long-term navigation system to replace the prewar traffic pattern.
Tehran, however, is drawing an increasingly explicit distinction between agreeing with Oman on where commercial vessels may travel and actually allowing the strait to return to normal international shipping.
IRGC Gen. Hossein Mohebbi reinforced that position Saturday, saying the reopening of Hormuz is “completely independent” of the Iran-Oman negotiations and would come only after Washington accepts Tehran’s conditions.
“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,” Mohebbi said.
The Trump administration has rejected Tehran’s effort to assert unilateral control over the strategic international waterway, insisting that commercial vessels must be permitted to transit without Iranian tolls, charges, approvals, or permissions.
Vance said Saturday that Iranian officials have privately told Washington they do not intend to impose tolls under the emerging arrangement — despite public calls from elements inside Iran to do precisely that.
“You see some people within the Iranian system, of course, talk about tolling,” Vance told Fox News. “The Iranians have told us they have no plans to toll the Strait of Hormuz.”
But the vice president made clear that Washington is not taking those assurances at face value.
“We don’t trust, we verify,” Vance said. “We actually look not at people’s words, but people’s deeds.”
Vance said the immediate U.S. goal is to restore the flow of oil and gas out of the Gulf to levels seen before the war while ensuring that commercial vessels can safely transit the strait.
“Our expectation is you’re going to see the same amount of oil and gas come out of the Gulf that you saw before the conflict started,” he said.
Doing so will require clearing mines Iran laid during the war and securing a commitment from Tehran to stop attacking commercial vessels, Vance explained.
“The one problem, of course, is the Iranians laid a large number of mines at the beginning of the war,” he said. “And so what we’re really working through now is how you can actually set up a traffic scheme so that the ships that pass can pass through safely.”
“That includes, of course, demining,” Vance said. “That also includes a commitment from the Iranians that they’re not going to fire at commercial vessels.”
Iranian attacks have nevertheless continued even as negotiations advance.
The United Arab Emirates accused Iran on Saturday of striking a tanker belonging to the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company with a missile as it transited Hormuz. No casualties were reported in Saturday’s attack.
ADNOC said Friday that 15 of its vessels have been attacked in Hormuz since the war began, including three this week, killing one crew member and injuring 20 others.
Oman, which is mediating the navigation talks, condemned the “repeated attacks” on ships transiting the strait and warned against actions that could jeopardize negotiations, even as Muscat said the discussions continued in a “positive and constructive atmosphere.”
The United States, meanwhile, continues enforcing its blockade of Iranian ports as diplomatic efforts move forward.
CENTCOM said Saturday that U.S. forces have redirected 53 commercial vessels, disabled two, and boarded another two under the renewed blockade. More than 30 additional vessels have been permitted through to deliver humanitarian aid.
Vance said the military and economic pressure imposed on Tehran has left Iran eager to bring the broader conflict to an end.
“They’re hurting in a big way. They want this thing to be over,” he said.
Whether Iran’s leadership can deliver what Washington requires, however, remains unresolved.
“The question is whether they’re able, their system is able, to give the things that are necessary for us to be happy, for us to feel like we’ve gotten what we need out of this particular engagement,” Vance said.
“That is still to be determined,” he added. “But I do think that we’ve made some progress over the last few days.”
The vice president also pointed to the damage inflicted on Iran since President Donald Trump launched Operation Epic Fury on February 28 as leverage Washington continues to hold in the negotiations.
“We’ve destroyed their nuclear program. We’ve destroyed their conventional military. We’ve radically reduced their, what you might call their asymmetric military abilities,” Vance said.
Washington is now testing whether Tehran is prepared to make more lasting changes, he said.
“And right now we’re trying to see if they’re willing to make the kind of long-term changes that would be necessary to have a better relationship with the United States,” Vance said.
“And if not, that’s fine too,” he added. “We’re just going to keep on applying the pressure that we can apply.”
Trump has repeatedly warned that military action remains available if diplomacy fails.
The president held off last weekend on what he described as a massive new strike after saying Iran sought renewed negotiations and regional mediators assured him that a Hormuz agreement could be imminent.
Trump said Thursday that a deal “could be soon,” while describing the strait as “sort of open right now” because the U.S. Navy blockade controls access.
He nevertheless acknowledged that Iran can still attack vessels or deploy mines, warning that even a single mine can keep commercial shippers from risking billion-dollar vessels in the waterway.
The temporary Iran-Oman framework under discussion is expected to establish new routes for commercial traffic while negotiations continue toward a longer-term arrangement. U.S. officials have said any such routes must operate without Iranian tolls, charges, permissions, or other impediments.
Washington has also indicated that the naval blockade could be lifted once Iran allows commercial traffic to move through Hormuz without obstruction.
Zolghadr’s demands, however, go far beyond the mechanics of reopening the strait, tying normal commercial passage to sanctions relief, frozen assets, war compensation, U.S. military withdrawal, and an end to American action against Iran and its regional allies.
Vance said the administration is approaching the broader confrontation accordingly.
“We’re really in the middle of the game here,” he said. “This thing is not over. It’s obviously not at the beginning. We’re in the middle of the game, and we’re applying a whole host of tools — diplomatic, economic, military tools — to ensure that we get the best outcome for the American people.”
“I feel quite confident we will get there,” Vance said, “but we’re still a bit in the middle of the game.”
Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.
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