TEHRAN — Iran vowed on Tuesday it will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until the US lifted its naval blockade and released frozen Iranian assets, fulfilling its commitments under a memorandum of understanding signed between the two sidesin June. Speaking during a parliamentary session, Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Tehran would use both diplomatic and military means to make Washington “understand the consequences of its actions,” according to state news agency IRNA.”I want to state clearly that the Strait of Hormuz will not be opened until the American commitments stipulated in the memorandum of understanding… are implemented,” Ghalibaf said in a speech broadcast on state-run TV.He listed the end to the blockade, the lifting of oil sanctions and unfreezing of Iran’s assets abroad among Tehran’s demands.Ghalibaf, who also serves as the chief of Iran’s negotiating team in talks with the US, said Tehran was pursuing what he described as “the power of logic and the logic of power” through coordination between the diplomatic and military fields.He said the period provided by the memorandum, including the lifting of the US blockade and ceasefire, had helped Iran increase its economic resilience and rebuild its defensive capabilities.“The Islamic Republic of Iran is prepared, in proportion to the enemy’s actions and aggression, to inflict an even heavier defeat on it,” Ghalibaf added.Meanwhile, an unidentified projectile damaged the engine room of a ship and “resulted in a crew casualty” early Tuesday morning as the vessel was trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Oman, the UKMTO said, citing a report from the company’s security office.The maritime monitoring agency did not release any details about the ship or its cargo, and it was not clear whether the crew member was killed in the attack or wounded.It said the Omani Coast Guard was assisting other crew members and that authorities were investigating.There has been growing concern about oil spilling into the Arabian Gulf and other area waters from vessels damaged as they have attempted to transit the strait, but the UKMTO said no environmental damage had been reported in the latest attack.Tehran’s forces effectively closed the strait — through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s traded oil supplies passed before the war — after Israel and the US attacked Iran on 28 February.The US is also currently blockading all Iranian shipping traffic through the strait.With negotiations between the two sides at war stalled, Tehran has been holding separate talks with Oman on a plan to manage ships transiting the strait, and said Monday it was finalising details for a joint statement.US President Donald Trump reacted angrily, reportedly telling Fox News in a telephone interview that the US would bomb Oman if it “gets in the way”.Trump also provoked a fiery response from Tehran after he said last Friday that he would soon be declaring the strait “a territory of the United States”.Responding to the comments in a post on X, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said that “the Strait of Hormuz has been Iranian, is Iranian, and will remain Iranian.””This strait will only be closed and opened under Iran’s command, and as long as you do not accept the reality of defeat and cease your fanciful delusions, Iran will continue to enforce the blockade,” Gharibabadi added.The Strait of Hormuz is roughly 35 kilometers wide at its narrowest, meaning both Iran and Oman operate the waterway.
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