By MiddleEastEye | Source
The US is downplaying the chances of a fresh attack against Iran even as it characterises Tehran’s conditions for a political settlement as “absurd”.
US President Donald Trump said on Monday after meeting Qatar’s prime minister at the White House that the war was “effectively over” and that there was “momentum” to end the conflict.
Trump has used deescalatory language since the Republican Party was badly defeated in US midterm elections on 3 November by the Democrats, who campaigned against the war and rising energy prices.
But Trump’s characterisation of ongoing talks was directly disputed by Mohsen Rezaei, a former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander who is secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.
“We are not currently conducting any negotiations with the Americans, and there are no negotiations between us and Washington at present,” he said, speaking in a television interview.
Rezaei said Iran was standing by its seven-point proposal from the summer, which would allow for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. The IRGC said on Tuesday that three oil tankers had caught on fire after they hit mines in the Strait of Hormuz.
“We have communicated our conditions to the American side, but their initial response was insufficient and deceptive, and we are still awaiting an explicit and clear response,” Rezeai said.
But US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday appeared to give a straightforward answer to Iran’s terms, calling them “absurd” and “not serious”.
“Iran is demanding reparations. They should be the ones paying reparations because they’re the ones that have destabilised the region for long periods of time. They’re demanding pallets of cash, which the president’s made clear is not going to happen,” Rubio said, speaking to reporters at a meeting of G7 foreign ministers in Paris.
‘Iranian oil not getting out’
The US and Iran are at loggerheads over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear programme and control over the Strait of Hormuz.
But financial considerations were a key factor in the negotiations that led to a June memorandum of understanding to establish a framework for a final settlement. That deal eventually fell apart over Iran’s bid to control traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which would allow it to potentially impose a fee.
Rubio said that while the Trump administration is not looking to restart major combat operations, it is in no hurry to strike a deal because it believes it has the upper hand in the Strait of Hormuz.