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The remarks suggest the Qatari mediation channel is live, but they also show Iran tying any Hormuz reopening to conditions it has not spelled out, which keeps a supply risk premium in oil. Crude has been trading in both directions on each new diplomatic headline, and firm language from Tehran could limit downside if traders had been leaning on the earlier reports of possible sanctions relief. The next catalyst is the US reply, which will be relayed through Qatar, so any sign of movement on sequencing, or a breakdown, is likely to drive the next leg in Brent and WTI.
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Earlier:
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Iran is keeping the diplomatic door open through Qatar while insisting the Supreme Leader’s conditions must be met before the Strait of Hormuz reopens.
Summary:
- Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Tehran discussed ideas with Qatari mediators that are to be put to the US, according to IRNA.
- He said the US response will be conveyed to Tehran through the Qatari mediators.
- Araqchi said the conditions stressed by Iran’s Supreme Leader must be implemented for the Strait of Hormuz to reopen.
- He added that if the US wants an agreement or a peaceful solution, Iran has already presented one.
- The comments follow Trump’s rejection of Iran’s Hormuz proposal on Saturday and a disputed Axios report on possible US sanctions relief.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said late Monday that Tehran had discussed ideas with Qatari mediators that are to be put to the United States, according to Iran’s IRNA news agency. He said the US response will be conveyed back to Tehran through the same Qatari channel.
Araqchi also said the conditions stressed by Iran’s Supreme Leader must be implemented for the Strait of Hormuz to reopen. He added that if Washington wants an agreement or a peaceful solution, Iran has already presented one. The reports did not detail the ideas discussed with the mediators or spell out the conditions he referred to.
The comments follow a weekend in which US President Donald Trump rejected an Iranian proposal to reopen the strait. US ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz said Trump turned it down because it required the immediate lifting of sanctions and the release of frozen assets. Qatari mediators had been expected to hold separate talks with the Iranian and US sides on Monday or Tuesday, focused on an amended version of a seven-day proposal that Iran presented last week, according to an official cited by Reuters.
Axios reported earlier on Monday, citing US officials, that Trump was willing to give Iran sanctions relief and release frozen funds in return for concrete progress on the nuclear issue. One US official described the indirect talks as positive and constructive, while saying gaps remain on timing and on who takes which steps first. Trump later denied on Truth Social that he had offered Iran anything and called the Axios report a hoax.
Oil traded on the diplomatic headlines throughout Monday. Brent settled around $105 a barrel after an early jump of more than $4 faded, and the earlier reports of possible sanctions relief had coincided with softer crude. Middle East exports have recovered in recent weeks, though flows through the strait remain below pre-conflict levels.
Attention now turns to the US response that will be passed to Tehran via Qatar, and to whether the mediators can narrow the gaps on sequencing before Iran’s conditions for reopening the strait are tested.
This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at investinglive.com.
