Tehran: Iran has said the United States must end its naval blockade and meet Tehran's demands before any agreement can be reached on reopening or securing the Strait of Hormuz, placing the responsibility for advancing negotiations on Washington.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said on Monday that Tehran's conditions had been communicated clearly and that the next move rested with the US government.
"The ball is in America's court; because our demands have been stated very clearly and transparently, and Iran's demands are reasonable and logical," Baghaei said during a press briefing.
"No final agreement can be initiated and the Strait of Hormuz cannot be opened or secured unless the US naval blockade is ended, Iran's demands are met, and Iran's legitimate demands are implemented. After that, we can discuss the continuation of the process," he added.
Addressing questions about a diplomatic letter reportedly sent by US Vice-President JD Vance to Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Baghaei said Tehran would judge Washington by its actions rather than its language.
"It is common for different people to write letters or speak in different ways," he said. "The style of writing letters and expressing oneself may differ from one person to another; but for us, the performance of the US government is important."
Baghaei accused Washington of repeatedly undermining diplomatic efforts rather than supporting them.
"So far, the US has shown that it not only lacks initiative in the field of diplomacy, but also destroys diplomatic initiatives," he said. "In the past two years, the US has only beaten the drum of war, and whenever a path for diplomacy has been opened, or during that process, it has disrupted the process."
He referred to previous diplomatic efforts, including the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, saying agreements had been unravelled shortly after they were reached.
"Incidentally, the senior negotiator in the Islamabad process was the same writer of the letter, and we saw that the US President recently also announced that that process was a waste of time in our opinion," Baghaei said, adding that any diplomatic process needed to be approached with caution.
Despite the setbacks, he said Iran's proposal for negotiations remained available through regional intermediaries, provided the US acted in good faith.
Baghaei said the original initiative was a seven-day proposal discussed in detail during an Iranian delegation's visit to New York. Tehran had received the other side's views through mediators, he added, and the proposal remained on the table.
"The basis for the talks and negotiations between Iran and the United States through mediators is the same seven-step plan of Iran, which has now been condensed and can be implemented within two days," he said.
He described the proposal as evidence of Iran's willingness to pursue diplomacy, adding that meeting Tehran's demands could help restore security in the Strait of Hormuz and allow negotiations to begin within a short period.
On Iran's formal response to Vance's letter, Baghaei said Rezaei would decide how to proceed, given his position as secretary of the Supreme National Security Council.
Baghaei said Iran had formally conveyed its conditions to the US through talks mediated by Qatar in Doha. He said a visit by Iran's deputy foreign minister to the Qatari capital was intended to facilitate communication between the two sides.
"The United States must make a decision. We have conveyed to the American side in a reasonable format everything that was necessary and was considered as legitimate demands of Iran," he said.
He warned that Washington could not expect Tehran to ensure security in the Strait of Hormuz while maintaining an economic blockade against Iran.
"You cannot talk about the Strait of Hormuz and worry about insecurity… but continue to economically blockade Iran and abandon everything you have agreed to," Baghaei said. "This will be a unilateral deal that will simply not be sustainable."
He added that meeting Iran's conditions was not merely a matter of national interest for Tehran but also a reasonable way to restore security in the strategic waterway.
An American delegation is expected to join Iranian officials for talks in Doha. Baghaei also said Qatar had proposed reducing the implementation period of Iran's plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to two days, compared with five days.
Baghaei also warned that Tehran was preparing for the possibility of renewed hostilities.
"We do not rule out any possibility regarding the outbreak of war, and we are prepared for all scenarios. We have upgraded our weaponry, addressed our vulnerabilities, and tested new arms; our forces are at the highest level of readiness," he said.
His remarks came after The Wall Street Journal reported that Vance had sent the letter to Rezaei on the instructions of US President Donald Trump, seeking to restart negotiations and prevent further US military strikes.
Trump had earlier said Washington was in no hurry to end its war with Iran, describing the hostilities as "not a typical war". He maintained that time was on the US side despite months of fighting and repeated diplomatic efforts failing to produce a lasting settlement.