Iran tied the arrangement for transit through the Strait of Hormuz to commitments it expects from the United States. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran had reached an agreement with Oman on a transit route and would reopen the strategic waterway if Washington fulfilled its obligations under the Islamabad Memorandum signed in June.
Pezeshkian said the designated route had been presented to Iran’s supreme leader. He said the parties had reached a point at which the US side had agreed to return to the memorandum, adding that Iran was working to restore the strait to its previous status but that the agreement had collapsed because the other side failed to fulfill its obligations.
Iran’s conditions for reopening
The conditions listed by Pezeshkian included lifting the sanctions and blockade, releasing Iran’s frozen assets, launching investments and ending the war in Lebanon.
Pezeshkian said an “exceptional” consensus had been reached on the agreement in Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, adding that 12 of its 13 members had voted in favor of the proposal.
The Iranian president said the sanctions and blockade had initially been lifted while the memorandum was in force, negotiations had begun to release frozen funds and investment plans worth $300 billion had been prepared. Pezeshkian also said banking and petrochemical sanctions had been lifted and that Iran had exported approximately 90 million barrels of oil during the same period.
Pezeshkian said Iran’s imports and exports had declined by between 25% and 35%. He added that talks had been held with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates as part of the investment plans, but that the projects could not move forward as long as the war continued.
Arrangement for maritime traffic in the strait
Iran and Oman are discussing an arrangement to manage maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz after the memorandum signed between Washington and Tehran collapsed last month.
The memorandum provided for the United States and Iran to extend the ceasefire reached in April and gradually restore maritime traffic through the strait to prewar levels while negotiations on a final agreement continued.
Third-tier gasoline pricing considered in Iran
Pezeshkian said wartime conditions had led to the closure of routes, prevented goods from entering the country and reduced state revenues. He nevertheless said gasoline supplies had to continue.
Pezeshkian said the government had not yet decided when or by how much to raise gasoline prices, adding that it was considering only a third pricing tier for consumption above the regular quota. He said a price of approximately 10,000 tomans had been proposed for this option and rejected rumors that a price of 50,000 tomans would be introduced.
Pezeshkian said the judiciary and parliament should be consulted before any regulation was introduced. He added that remote work, expanding public transportation, raising vehicle-efficiency standards and converting taxis and motorcycles to electric vehicles were being considered to reduce fuel consumption.
The Iranian president also said infrastructure, including power plants and oil and natural gas resources, had been targeted, resulting in a decline in energy production.
