TEHRAN: Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was set to meet later on Monday with Qatari mediators in New York, Iranian state media said, after US President Donald Trump rejected Tehran's plan for reopening the Strait of Hormuz. "The foreign minister of our country will meet and hold talks today with the Qatari side, which is acting as a mediator between Iran and the United States," the state broadcaster said.The meeting was expected to focus on "messages exchanged with the United States through intermediaries...
particularly regarding the conditions set by Iran for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz", it added. Qatari mediators are likely to hold separate talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in New York and with the US side on Monday or Tuesday, an official briefed on the negotiations told The talks are expected to focus on an amended version of a seven-day proposal that Iran presented last week on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The report comes after state news agency IRNA reported earlier in the day that the Iranian delegation in New York for the UN General Assembly was not planning further talks with the United States, after Trump said he expected more negotiations soon. Iranian and US officials last week held indirect talks mediated by Qatar on the sidelines of the UN meeting, with Tehran saying it presented seven conditions for ending their war and reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
But state news agency IRNA on Monday quoted an unnamed source close to the UN delegation as saying there were no more talks scheduled. "Iran's delegation in New York has no plans for negotiations with the United States," IRNA quoted the source as saying. "Iran's views and positions were conveyed clearly and explicitly to the US side...
via a Qatari mediator," IRNA said. The Iranian delegation would return to Tehran on Tuesday, Trump on Saturday publicly rejected Iran's latest proposal for ending the war, but told US media outlet Axios on Sunday that he expected talks to resume in the coming days. Despite Trump's rejection, Tehran has said it is waiting for a formal US response before deciding on its next steps.
Axios said further indirect talks mediated by Qatar could take place as early as Monday. Last week's discussions were held by US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.Tehran imposed a blockade on the Strait of Hormuz after the war started, prompting Washington to respond with its own blockade on Iranian ports. As a precondition for ending its blockade, Iran is demanding a seven-day ceasefire across the Middle East, including in Lebanon, where its ally Hezbollah has been battling Israeli forces.It is also demanding the unfreezing of Iranian assets abroad, the lifting of sanctions on its oil sector, and an end to the US naval blockade.
Fighting between the two sides has subsided in recent weeks, with the US not striking Iran since September 1, but Tehran has continued to target commercial vessels in Hormuz.Araghchi remains in New York after attending the UN General Assembly. It was not immediately clear who would represent the US side in the talks with mediators. Iran's semi-official ISNA news agency confirmed that Araghchi would meet the mediators in the US on Monday morning, New York time.
The two sides will "examine the latest proposals and views regarding the current situation", ISNA added. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told state media later on Monday that Araghchi's stay in New York had not been extended and that the foreign minister would return to Tehran according to his original schedule. Baghaei made no comment on the talks with mediators.Iran's supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei said Monday the United States would be forced to leave the Middle East after suffering "painful blows", according to a statement carried by state television.
Khamenei, who has not been seen in public since the start of the Middle East war in late February, made the remarks despite attempts to revive talks aimed at ending the fighting."Today, having suffered painful blows at the hands of valiant fighters and the guardians of the Strait of Hormuz, they (the enemies) do not venture beyond the Arabian Sea," Khamenei said in the written statement attributed to him, without explicitly mentioning the United States.
"Whenever they have braved this risk, they have only brought harm upon themselves. It will not be long before the Arabian Sea, too, would rid itself of their presence," he added.The Arabian Sea, stretching from the Arabian Peninsula towards India in the east, is a vital maritime corridor that leads to Iran's coasts and the Strait of Hormuz. Iraqi Airways has resumed flights between Iraq's holy city of Najaf and Iranian airports, Iraq's state news agency reported on Monday.Iraq had halted flights to and from Iran on Friday, in line with US sanctions.
Meanwhile, Iran has lodged a complaint with the United Nations over US sanctions against its aviation sector that have forced the cancellation of flights, state media reported Monday. "To defend the legitimate rights of the aviation industry and counter illegal restrictions imposed by America, Iran has drafted and submitted a formal protest to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO)," said civil aviation chief Abouzar Shiroudi, according to Iran's official IRNA news agency.
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Monday that the EU needed more ships in its mission to protect shipping in the Red Sea, known as Aspides, for it to become operational. Speaking on arrival at a meeting of EU defence ministers in Brussels, Kallas said she had been pushing member states to contribute more to the mission, but had yet to receive any new firm commitments.