07/07/2026
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07/07/2026
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TEHRAN, Jul 7: Iran has declared that negotiations on a final nuclear agreement with the United States will not begin while military threats continue, hours after a commercial oil tanker was attacked in the Strait of Hormuz and US President Donald Trump warned that Washington was prepared to use force if diplomacy failed.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran would not proceed with the next phase of negotiations unless the United States honored the terms of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed last month.
"Paragraph 13 of the MoU is clear: Negotiations on a final deal will not commence if threats continue. Honor your signature," Araghchi wrote on X.
The Islamabad-brokered agreement, signed electronically on June 18 by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and US President Donald Trump, launched a 60-day period of indirect diplomacy aimed at reaching a permanent peace and nuclear agreement between the two countries.
Araghchi's statement came just hours after Trump issued a blunt warning from the White House.
"We're either going to make a deal or we're going to finish the job. It won't be tough to finish the job. I'd rather make a deal because I don't want to affect 91 million people," Trump told reporters, reiterating that Iran must never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon.
The diplomatic standoff unfolded amid rapidly escalating tensions in the Gulf after a commercial oil tanker was struck while sailing through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran's state broadcaster IRIB, citing anonymous sources, claimed the vessel was targeted after attempting to transit the Omani shipping route with support from the US Navy and allegedly ignored repeated warnings from Iranian forces.
The broadcaster said no Iranian official had formally confirmed or denied the report but reiterated Tehran's position that vessels passing through the strategic waterway should coordinate with Iran's military rather than use the southern route through Omani waters.
The latest developments came just one day after Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that Israel would "thwart" any future Iranian leader who sought to attack the country, further raising fears of a wider regional conflict.
Adding to the tensions, Araghchi shared images of a massive funeral procession in Tehran for Iran's slain Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, whose death during the US-Israeli conflict has further inflamed relations between Tehran and its adversaries.
The combination of military threats, the reported tanker attack in the Strait of Hormuz, and the collapse of diplomatic momentum has heightened concerns that the region could be heading toward another dangerous confrontation.