Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday that restoring diplomacy to the right track is not impossible, but depends on the United States recognizing that pressure is ineffective.
Araghchi said in a post on the platform X that the United States should build trust, engage respectfully, recognize Iran’s rights and fulfill its commitments.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that the United States and Iran are not currently holding talks to end the war, as Washington focuses on economic pressure on Tehran, stressing that all options remain “on the table.”
Leavitt said U.S. President Donald Trump’s primary objective is to ensure that Iran cannot acquire a nuclear weapon, adding that Washington had launched “Operation Epic Fury” to destroy Iran’s military and was now pursuing an operation aimed at undermining its economy.
“There are no negotiations at this time,” she said, adding that this would remain the case until Trump believes Iran is prepared to sit at the negotiating table with the aim of achieving concrete results. She also said that all options remain available to the president and that the naval blockade remains in effect.
On Monday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced an expansion of secondary sanctions that could be imposed on entities and countries maintaining commercial ties with Iran worldwide, as part of the U.S.-launched “Economic Outcast” campaign against Tehran, amid sharply escalating U.S. economic pressure as the war approaches its sixth month.
Bessent described it as an “economic victory day,” intended to deliver a final warning to countries to sever their trade ties with Iran or risk having their major companies and entities cut off from the dollar-based financial system.
“We are waging an economic attack on Iran’s financial ties around the world,” Bessent said, adding that the objective was to cut off every economic lifeline supporting what he described as Iran’s “authoritarian regime.”
Iran has been holding talks with Oman for several weeks, while insisting that the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed unless Washington fulfills its commitments under a memorandum of understanding signed in mid-June, which includes lifting the U.S. blockade and economic sanctions imposed on Tehran.
Iranian Revolutionary Guard spokesman Hossein Mahbi said that if the United States does not accept Iran’s conditions, the Strait of Hormuz will not be reopened under any circumstances. However, if Washington abandons its obstruction and returns to the memorandum of understanding, the strait could be reopened. “Therefore, it must accept our conditions,” he said.
On June 18, 2026, Washington and Tehran signed a memorandum of understanding on freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz as a step toward reaching a final agreement. Implementation, however, stalled due to disagreements over the strait’s security arrangements.
Between July 8 and 24, the United States resumed attacks on Iran, while Tehran responded by targeting countries in the region, before talks resumed over safe passage for vessels through the Strait of Hormuz.
The United States also reinstated its naval blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz after renewed clashes described as the most intense since the ceasefire between the two sides took effect in April.
Iran warned that the renewed blockade of its ports undermines the memorandum of understanding with Washington.
The war began on February 28, when Israel and the United States launched attacks on Iran, prompting Tehran to close the Strait of Hormuz, which before the war was the main maritime route for nearly one-fifth of global energy supplies.
The Strait of Hormuz remains one of the key flashpoints in the conflict, with Iran’s control over the waterway giving Tehran significant leverage and an important source of pressure.
