Iran’s top national security official warned Saturday that the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the United States “corrects its behavior,” issuing a sweeping list of demands as Vice President JD Vance said Washington remains in the “middle of the game” and is continuing to apply diplomatic, economic, and military pressure on Tehran. Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and a former senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander, demanded that the United States end military action and threats against Iran and its regional allies, lift its naval blockade, withdraw U.S. naval and air forces from around Iran, compensate Tehran for war damages, lift sanctions, and unconditionally release frozen Iranian assets. [snip] Zolghadr also vowed that Iran’s Supreme National Security Council “will never back down, whether in war or in negotiations.” The far-reaching conditions cast fresh doubt on whether an emerging Iran-Oman navigation agreement will actually result in a broader reopening of Hormuz, despite days of indications that a temporary arrangement was nearing completion. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Saturday that Tehran and Muscat were close to finalizing the navigation framework — while stressing that Iran would not consider the agreement itself sufficient to reopen the strait. [snip] Araghchi was referring to the June U.S.-Iran framework, which later collapsed after Iranian forces resumed attacks on commercial vessels using the U.S.-backed route through Hormuz, prompting renewed American military action. The emerging agreement would initially establish temporary shipping routes through Hormuz while Iran and Oman work toward a new long-term navigation system to replace the prewar traffic pattern. Tehran, however, is drawing an increasingly explicit distinction between agreeing with Oman on where commercial vessels may travel and actually allowing the strait to return to normal international shipping. [snip] The Trump administration has rejected Tehran’s effort to assert unilateral control over the strategic international waterway, insisting that commercial vessels must be permitted to transit without Iranian tolls, charges, approvals, or permissions. Vance said Saturday that Iranian officials have privately told Washington they do not intend to impose tolls under the emerging arrangement — despite public calls from elements inside Iran to do precisely that. “You see some people within the Iranian system, of course, talk about tolling,” Vance told Fox News. “The Iranians have told us they have no plans to toll the Strait of Hormuz.” But the vice president made clear that Washington is not taking those assurances at face value. [snip] “Our expectation is you’re going to see the same amount of oil and gas come out of the Gulf that you saw before the conflict started,” he said. Doing so will require clearing mines Iran laid during the war and securing a commitment from Tehran to stop attacking commercial vessels, Vance explained. “The one problem, of course, is the Iranians laid a large number of mines at the beginning of the war,” he said. “And so what we’re really working through now is how you can actually set up a traffic scheme so that the ships that pass can pass through safely.” “That includes, of course, demining,” Vance said. “That also includes a commitment from the Iranians that they’re not going to fire at commercial vessels.” Iranian attacks have nevertheless continued even as negotiations advance. [snip] Oman, which is mediating the navigation talks, condemned the “repeated attacks” on ships transiting the strait and warned against actions that could jeopardize negotiations, even as Muscat said the discussions continued in a “positive and constructive atmosphere.” The United States, meanwhile, continues enforcing its blockade of Iranian ports as diplomatic efforts move forward. CENTCOM said Saturday that U.S. forces have redirected 53 commercial vessels, disabled two, and boarded another two under the renewed blockade. More than 30 additional vessels have been permitted through to deliver humanitarian aid. [snip] “The question is whether they’re able, their system is able, to give the things that are necessary for us to be happy, for us to feel like we’ve gotten what we need out of this particular engagement,” Vance said. “That is still to be determined,” he added. “But I do think that we’ve made some progress over the last few days.” The vice president also pointed to the damage inflicted on Iran since President Donald Trump launched Operation Epic Fury on February 28 as leverage Washington continues to hold in the negotiations. “We’ve destroyed their nuclear program. We’ve destroyed their conventional military. We’ve radically reduced their, what you might call their asymmetric military abilities,” Vance said. Washington is now testing whether Tehran is prepared to make more lasting changes, he said. [snip] The president held off last weekend on what he described as a massive new strike after saying Iran sought renewed negotiations and regional mediators assured him that a Hormuz agreement could be imminent. Trump said Thursday that a deal “could be soon,” while describing the strait as “sort of open right now” because the U.S. Navy blockade controls access. He nevertheless acknowledged that Iran can still attack vessels or deploy mines, warning that even a single mine can keep commercial shippers from risking billion-dollar vessels in the waterway. The temporary Iran-Oman framework under discussion is expected to establish new routes for commercial traffic while negotiations continue toward a longer-term arrangement. U.S. officials have said any such routes must operate without Iranian tolls, charges, permissions, or other impediments. [snip] Vance said the administration is approaching the broader confrontation accordingly. “We’re really in the middle of the game here,” he said. “This thing is not over. It’s obviously not at the beginning. We’re in the middle of the game, and we’re applying a whole host of tools — diplomatic, economic, military tools — to ensure that we get the best outcome for the American people.” “I feel quite confident we will get there,” Vance said, “but we’re still a bit in the middle of the game.” (*) Full article: https://www.breitbart.com/the-media/2026/08/08/iran-security-chief-hormuz-closed-until-america-corrects-its-behavior-vance-says-u-s-still-middle-of-the-game/ Post navigation Afghan ‘asylum seeker’ charged with brutal murder of Scottish missionary in Greece, hiding her body in suitcase, stealing identity UK naval drones had components that secretly transmitted data to China
