(Bloomberg) -- A top Iranian official reiterated the country's determination to maintain control over maritime traffic moving through the Strait of Hormuz, raising the stakes ahead of fresh negotiations with the US on ending their war for good.
Most Read from Bloomberg
Trump's U-Turn on Iran Sanctions Would Unravel Decades of Curbs - Supreme Court Leaves Trump's Fed, Citizenship Gambits for Last - US Stocks Get Tech Boost After AI-Fueled Selloff: Markets Wrap - Prabowo Risks Prompt Global Banks to Pull Cash Out of Indonesia
In remarks to Iranian state television, Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said Iran wants to work out an agreement with Oman, which controls the other side of the vital waterway, to oversee ships passing through Hormuz. But Iran will move forward with its own plans to control traffic "if for any reason Oman is not interested in doing so," he said.
"We have warned the Omanis that other countries have no right to interfere in this matter," Gharibabadi said. He said his country will designate any temporary transit routes in the strait.
The remarks were fresh evidence that Iran has no intention of returning to the status quo from before the US and Israel launched their military campaign against Iran, in which ships passed freely through the strait. An interim peace agreement signed earlier this month said Iran wouldn't charge tolls for 60 days but left open the possibility of ships being forced to pay some sort of fee after that.
That stance will add to the pressure around the next round of talks, which the US has said are set to take place in Doha, Qatar on Tuesday. Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner are set to attend, according to the White House. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last week in Bahrain that any tolls or fees would be unacceptable.
Iran has not confirmed the details of a fresh round of negotiations to permanently end the four-month war. Gharibabadi said earlier that "the Americans are traveling to Doha, but we have no plans to meet with them" while at the same time conceding that delegates would be there to follow up on implementation of the interim agreement through Qatari mediators.
Speaking in the Oval Office on Monday, President Donald Trump declined to say whether he thought the new talks would lead to a breakthrough after a spate of attacks in recent days jeopardized the ceasefire between the two countries. He made clear his focus remains on keeping nuclear weapons out of Iran's hands.