Iran has tied any reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and any return to negotiations with the United States to seven conditions, as Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei warns that Tehran is preparing for further confrontation while keeping diplomatic channels open. Rezaei, a former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and adviser to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, took over the country’s top security post during a period of renewed uncertainty over the war and the strategic waterway.
Rezaei said Iran had received American messages through Pakistan, Qatar and Iraq and had presented Washington with seven demands. He said the United States had accepted some conditions, but that the status of others remained unclear. Iran’s stated requirements include an end to the war, removal of the U.S. Naval blockade, release of frozen Iranian assets and an end to attacks and threats against Iran and its regional partners.
The security chief said Tehran was not abandoning diplomacy, but would not return to earlier negotiations or reopen the strait on the basis of political assurances alone. Iranian officials have described the waterway’s status as a direct consequence of the conflict that began on Feb. 28, when the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran. A memorandum reached in June had provided for a 60-day reopening period, but the arrangement later collapsed amid disputes over navigation and the wider conflict.
Tensions around the waterway have since intensified. Iran said seven oil tankers were damaged or set on fire overnight in late October after being struck by Iranian forces or naval mines, though those claims were not independently confirmed. Shipping has continued through a U.S. -protected route near Oman, with tankers reportedly traveling at night and disabling tracking systems before transferring oil in the Gulf of Oman. The arrangement has kept crude moving but has sharply increased operating costs and maritime risk.
Iranian officials have also warned that a renewed U.S. Attack could bring strikes against American assets in the region, including data systems, artificial-intelligence facilities and undersea infrastructure. Tehran says it prefers de-escalation, while insisting that the blockade, sanctions and military pressure must end before the strait can return to normal. Mediators from Pakistan and Qatar continue to carry messages between Washington and Tehran, but the unresolved conditions leave the waterway’s reopening tied to a broader settlement that has not yet been reached.