CGTN – US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that negotiations with Iran will begin Monday afternoon, noting that Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar had asked the United States to call off planned strikes because “they think there’s a deal.”
“There’s a deal on (the Strait of) Hormuz, and then there will be a deal on the nuclear, or you might call it the denuclearization of Iran,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One en route to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.
Trump did not provide details of where negotiations would take place or who would be involved.
Asked if there was a deadline for Iran to come to an agreement, Trump said in response: “Would I rather make a deal? I’m not looking to kill people because people die, a lot of people die, and we don’t want that.”
Oil prices fell on Monday in early Asia trade after Trump announced the new negotiations, with West Texas Intermediate dropping 4.7% to $80.72 per barrel.
Iran said it was nearing a deal with Oman over a new route through the strait, where a tanker reported an explosion nearby on Sunday, underscoring the continued volatility of the strategic waterway.
Iran-Oman deal on path of being finalized
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said during a cabinet meeting on Sunday that negotiations between Iran and Oman on the Strait of Hormuz have progressed and are on the path of being finalized.
Elaborating on the Iran-Oman talks in an interview with state-run IRIB TV, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei stressed that reaching an agreement between the two countries is not related to the waterway’s reopening or continued closure.
Baghaei said Iran and Oman are working to designate a “new route” in the strait within a traffic separation scheme format that can ensure both sides’ sovereign rights as well as Iran’s national interests and security.
Baghaei added that Iran-Oman negotiations had “no link to the Strait of Hormuz being opened or closed. That is a separate discussion.” Maritime trade tracking firm Kpler said Friday that traffic through Hormuz had dropped sharply.
On Sunday, a tanker off the coast of Oman reported hearing an explosion near the vessel, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) Centre reported, adding that the vessel and crew were all safe.
‘Exchange of views’
Iranian lawmaker Hassan Ghashghavi, spokesman for the parliament’s national security commission, said on Sunday that mediators were trying to revive the US-Iran memorandum of understanding that was agreed in June.
That agreement was not intended as a final peace deal, but as a stepping stone to negotiations on a comprehensive agreement, though it did include provisions on Hormuz.
“They know that the main issue and, in fact, the key to the matter right now is the issue of the Strait of Hormuz, so yes, there is an exchange of views,” Ghashghavi said.
Posting on X, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said: “We must strive to compel the enemy to adhere to what it has signed. The security of the country, region and our allies will improve with this MoU.”
On June 18, Iran and the United States signed a memorandum of understanding, under which they were scheduled to hold negotiations within a 60-day period to reach a final agreement. However, the talks’ fate hangs in the balance due to heightened tensions and recent military confrontation between the two countries.
(With input from agencies)
