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The United States and Iran traded sharp statements as diplomatic efforts continued over the Strait of Hormuz.
US President Donald Trump again said he expects the war in the Middle East to end “very, very soon”.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran expected a formal US response on Tuesday to its proposal on the waterway.
The comments came after an “unknown projectile” struck a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the British maritime agency. The impact caused a fire, but the crew later extinguished it.
Araghchi said Qatari mediators had presented proposals to Iran. He said the mediators would discuss them with Washington before returning with a final response.
The Iranian foreign minister said negotiations currently focused on the Strait of Hormuz.
He said Iran would reopen the waterway only after the United States met conditions that Tehran had already communicated.
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US and Iranian officials separately met mediators on Monday. Officials from both countries said the talks formed part of renewed efforts to end the seven-month war.
Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said several meetings had taken place. He said the sides had exchanged messages in New York and elsewhere.
He said mediators were working to find common ground between the two sides.
Iran has demanded a seven-day ceasefire across the Middle East before ending its blockade of the waterway.
The demand includes Lebanon, where Israeli forces regularly strike Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Tehran also wants the United States to unfreeze Iranian assets abroad. It has demanded sanctions relief for its oil sector and an end to the US naval blockade of Iranian ports.
Trump, however, rejected reports that Washington had offered concessions.
“I offered them NOTHING,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Earlier reports from Axios and CNN cited US officials as saying Trump could consider sanctions relief and the release of frozen Iranian funds.
The reports said Washington would seek “concrete progress” from Tehran on its nuclear programme in return.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards rejected US claims that the Strait of Hormuz remains open.
IRGC spokesperson Hossein Mohebi said limited oil shipments did not mean the waterway had reopened.
He said a fully open strait would allow at least 125 vessels to pass each day. He also cited a daily flow of at least 20 million barrels of oil and petroleum products.
Mohebi warned that vessels attempting to cross the strait could face attacks or mines.
Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf also issued a warning.
He said no regional infrastructure would remain safe if Iran could not guarantee its own security.
The Revolutionary Guards separately addressed US voters in a 25-page open letter.
The letter urged Americans to oppose US support for Israel and foreign wars. It also argued that Iran and the United States could coexist if Washington changed its policies.
Oil prices fell on Tuesday after Saudi Arabia resumed tanker loadings at its Red Sea port of Yanbu.
The move followed the restart of the East-West Pipeline. The development improved expectations for Middle Eastern oil exports.
Brent crude fell $1.38, or 1.3%, to $103.88 a barrel at 1703 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude dropped $2.04, or 2.16%, to $90.58.
Brent and WTI remained on track for monthly gains of about 15% and 5.7%, respectively.
Saudi Aramco announced the resumption of Yanbu loadings in its October schedule. The company had halted the loadings earlier this month after a drone attack on the pipeline.
Vessel-tracking firm TankerTrackers.com said satellite images showed Saudi Arabia loading nearly 10 million barrels of crude at Yanbu and Al Muajjiz.
The White House has also urged the European Union to release diesel from emergency stocks. US officials said some EU members had not released as much oil and refined products as previously promised.
The Trump administration also offered energy companies 40 million barrels from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
The move aims to ease fuel prices, which have risen amid the widening conflict involving Iran and Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The United States granted Iraqi Airways a sanctions waiver to operate flights to Iran.
The waiver will allow the airline to transport pilgrims between Iran and Iraq’s holy city of Najaf.
Iraq’s transport ministry said flights could begin from Najaf in October. It said the airline must first complete the required organisational arrangements.
In Turkey, authorities seized a Caspian Airlines aircraft at Istanbul Airport.
Turkish and Iranian media linked the seizure to an unpaid debt of about €3 million.
Officials detained the Boeing 737 on Monday after passengers boarded the aircraft. Anadolu Agency reported that authorities acted under a court-issued seizure order.
Separately, the US Treasury sanctioned 10 individuals and entities over alleged procurement activities for Iran’s Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics.
The department said the targets had procured weapons and weapons components for Iran.
[…] US, Iran trade threats as Hormuz deal efforts continue […]