Iran president says supreme leader backs new plan to reopen Hormuz

TEHRAN: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran’s new plan to reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz was coordinated with supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, state media reported Saturday, quoting an interview with US media.

Pezeshkian also told broadcaster CBS that the Islamic republic would fulfil its obligations were the United States to agree to the proposal, according to excerpts released by state news agency IRNA.

The strait is crucial for the world’s oil supply and central to the conflict between the US and Iran, which remains deadlocked after nearly seven months.

“Coordination with the leader of the revolution (the supreme leader)… has been carried out,” Pezeshkian said.

“If the US accepts it and fulfils its obligations, we will do the same, and there will be no issue in this regard,” he added.

Pezeshkian said that a six-member team in Iran has been meeting for discussions and has “the authority to make decisions”.

This team includes representatives from “various organisations and bodies, including the military, the parliament and the government”.

Washington has yet to publicly respond to Iran’s proposal but reports indicated that President Donald Trump had rejected the plan, which calls for a cessation of all hostilities in the Middle East.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the plan’s conditions were the same as those laid out in a memorandum of understanding signed with the US in June.

It notably calls for the release of frozen Iranian assets estimated to be worth at least $12 billion, as well as the lifting of sanctions on Iranian oil and an end to the US naval blockade of Iran.