Iran Reports No Progress in Reviving Interim Deal with US

Iran reports no progress in restoring the interim deal with the United States that was agreed upon in June.

A senior Iranian source stated there had been absolutely no progress in talks to revive the deal or define a time frame for implementing its commitments. Iran and the United States remain at loggerheads over efforts to agree on a permanent end to the war in the Gulf. US President Donald Trump issued a broadside against Iran’s leaders, following new attacks on shipping in the region on Tuesday.

The June deal declared an immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, but it quickly unraveled. Trump stated the deal was over on July 7, and Iran's foreign ministry declared it suspended a week later. Iran accuses the US of failing to honor an agreement under the deal to reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping route.

Tehran states Washington reneged on its commitments, including lifting a blockade of Iranian ports and releasing frozen Iranian assets. President Trump said the US has total control over the Strait of Hormuz, but the Persian Gulf Strait Authority, a body Iran established to manage the waterway, said it remains blocked until Iran’s conditions are accepted.

Thousands of people have been killed in the conflict, mainly in Iran and Lebanon, since the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran on February 28. Iran has struck US assets and infrastructure in countries including Oman, Jordan, Kuwait, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia. Iran has rejected reports that the 60-day period set under the June agreement could be extended, arguing that the period never properly began because Washington violated the agreement shortly after it was reached. Mohammad Reza Naqdi, an adviser to the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said Tehran was moving toward an offensive doctrine.