Recasts, with added comments from US president, Adnoc CEO, UK PM
The presidents of Iran and the US have each laid out simple conditions required in order for the war to de-escalate, but neither indicated they would take the first step.
Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian said late on 31 March that Tehran has the "necessary will" to bring the conflict with the US and Israel to an end, but only once it has ironclad guarantees that they will not attack Iran in the future.
On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump said "Iran's new regime president" — presumably Pezeshkian, but this was not specified — has asked Washington for a ceasefire, but said this request would only be considered when Iran reopens shipping through the strait of Hormuz. Until then the US would continue its military campaign, Trump said.
Iran has yet to offer any formal response to Trump's latest comments. If true, they would represent a departure from Tehran's recent stance. Iranian officials, including foreign minister Abbas Araqchi, have repeatedly said Iran is not looking for a ceasefire, but wants a total end to hostilities. They have said a ceasefire will allow for the US and Israel to once again regroup and prepare for future attacks.
"We do not believe in a ceasefire," Araqchi said. "We believe in ending the war."
The US has been claiming negotiations with unidentified Iranian officials since last week, repeatedly remarking on "very good" progress. Iranian officials have consistently denied that any negotiations are underway.
Trump is scheduled to address the US to "provide an important update on Iran" at 21:00 ET on Wednesday (02:00 GMT on Thursday), the White House said. He said on 31 March that US forces could leave the region within two to three weeks.
Hormuz disruption
The war in the Middle East is in a fifth week, with the US and Israel continuing their heavy aerial campaign against numerous targets across Iran.
Tehran has been responding to the attacks by launching missiles and drones at Israel and US-linked assets across the Mideast Gulf, including critical energy infrastructure in Gulf Co-operation Council states.
Iranian retaliatory attacks on commercial vessels in and around the strait of Hormuz have heavily restricted traffic through the key waterway, severely curtailing exports of crude oil, oil products, LNG, fertilizers and other commodities from the region.
Pezeshkian reiterated that the strait is only closed to vessels with links to "Iran's aggressors and their supporters", and several Asian countries, including Malaysia and Thailand, have said in recent days that Tehran has given assurances of safe passage. Pakistan's foreign minister Ishaq Dar said at the weekend that Iran had approved 20 Pakistani-flagged vessels to traverse the strait.
Abu Dhabi state-owned Adnoc's chief executive, Sultan al-Jaber, today described the strait's closure as "global extortion", and said "the world must act together to protect the free flow of energy and safeguard economic stability."
With the US seemingly preferring other countries to take responsibility for securing the strait, the UK today said it will host this week a meeting of 35 nations' foreign ministers to assess ways of opening the waterway and to make it "accessible and safe after the fighting has stopped".
London did not outline which countries are involved, but if they are the same 35 as co-signed a UK letter in mid-March calling for the strait to reopen this would be a new attempt to get an international coalition together. In the early days of the war France said it would create a coalition to secure vessel traffic through Hormuz, but Paris later backtracked on that, in line with the broader EU stance.
