No plans for talks with US right now, says Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson

TEHRAN: Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson on Wednesday said that Tehran had no plans to engage in talks with the US and was focused solely on defending the country, Al Jazeera reports.

Speaking to reporters, foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baqaei said Iran will honour its international commitments only if the US does the same.

“Our commitments remain in effect only as long as the other side fulfils its pledges,” Baghaei stresses, adding that Iran abandoned its commitments under the MoU after the US failed to uphold its side of the temporary agreement.

“After the other party violated its obligations, we also refrained from implementing ours in any area where it was required.”

Iran's Ghalibaf vows definitive response to US 'crimes'

On the other hand, Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has vowed that the country will give a “definitive response” to the US for their “crimes”, according to the Tasnim news agency.

“We have pledged our jugular vein for the defence of this homeland,” Ghalibaf, also the speaker of Iran’s parliament, is quoted as saying.

“We have achieved great honours in a complex war with the greatest material power in the world, and our thinking and action must be equally great, complex, and resilient,” Ghalibaf adds. “Our position of strength in the Strait of Hormuz is the result of the same field strength that the people have created for us.”

In his statement, Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf stresses that the country’s national security lies in “preserving the ‘Iranian arrangements’ over the Strait of Hormuz and ensuring the maximum safe and harmless passage of commercial ships through this waterway”.

“America, which is legally empty-handed, wants to diminish the Iranian arrangements in the Strait of Hormuz by force, but we must stand firm so that the rights of the nation are realised,” he is quoted as saying by the Tasnim news agency.

‘Tehran has no reason to honour US MoU without benefits’

Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf says that if his country does not benefit from its memorandum of understanding with the US, “we have no reason to adhere to such an understanding”.

Iran’s national security depends on maintaining “Iranian arrangements” in the Strait of Hormuz, Qalibaf adds in a statement posted on Telegram.

He adds that Iran’s approach to its war with the US and negotiations to end it should be based on national interests, national security and a long-term perspective, adding that Tehran has no choice but to rely on its own strength.

Long energy supply disruption can impact global economy: IMF

A very long disruption to energy supplies from the war will clearly affect the global economy, the IMF’s strategy director has warned, according to Al Jazeera.

Christian Mumssen says it will be ⁠very difficult to plot the IMF’s October forecast ⁠if hostilities between the US and Iran continue.

“Internally, we will have to continue to think in scenarios. And for some countries, the question of energy prices … is, of course, extremely important,” he stresses.

Some ships refusing US-military guided Hormuz transits after attacks, sources say

Shipping companies are avoiding using a US military-guided transit scheme through the Strait of Hormuz after a wave of Iranian attacks on vessels sparked safety concerns, Reuters reports citing seven maritime security and shipping industry sources.

The US-assisted Traffic Separation Scheme has enabled the export of tens of millions of barrels of oil, helping dampen the impact on energy prices of the largest-ever disruption in oil and gas supplies. Yet shippers are evaluating the route on the Omani side of the strait as increasingly dangerous after a wave of attacks on ships.

It is unclear if the recently attacked commercial ships were sailing under the US scheme, the sources say.

“The US doesn’t seem to have any control over the situation,” one shipping source says, adding that their company opted not to sail through the strait due to crew safety concerns and the deteriorating security situation.

“Iran’s continued ability to target ships sailing through the Omani route means the Trump administration’s proposed solution to keep ships moving is unlikely to work,” says Torbjorn Solvedt, principal Middle East analyst with risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft.

White House officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.