Iran’s top security official has dismissed the prospect of negotiations with the United States, brushing aside President Donald Trump’s suggestion that talks could resume over the war in the Middle East.
“Do not be distracted by the US president’s contradictory messages — from ‘no negotiations’ to ‘we’re ready to talk’,” Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, wrote on X.
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“The stakes involving oil and the straits have changed. Damage control will not prevent what is coming. There will be no talks until Iran’s conditions are fulfilled. Period!” he added.
Yesterday, Mr Trump said he was willing to hold discussions with Iran, after weeks of insisting that it was too soon to reach an agreement to end the war.
Iran has repeatedly set out demands that include war reparations and the removal of sanctions, making them conditions for ending the conflict and its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
The latest exchange came as Gulf Arab states delayed planned discussions with Iran, deepening fears that the conflict could widen across the Middle East and endanger global oil supplies.
Oman had been expected to host representatives from Iran and the Gulf states for talks focused on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that carried 20% of the world’s oil exports before the war.
But Oman said the meeting had been postponed. Iran said Saudi Arabia had requested the delay.
The world’s most important oil shipping route has been largely closed since the war began on 28 February, when Iran warned vessels against passing through the waterway without its approval.
“The IRGC Navy firmly declares that the Strait of Hormuz is closed and remains under our intelligent control,” Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said in a statement.
A commercial vessel is anchored off Yemen’s coast at Bab al-Mandab, in the straits connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean
UN Security Council to meet over Houthi control of Bab al-Mandab Strait
The UN Security Council is due to meet today after Yemen’s Houthis seized control last week of the country’s Red Sea coastline and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, according to diplomatic sources.
France, which holds the council’s presidency this month, requested that the meeting begin at 3pm local time in New York, one source said.
Bab al-Mandab is a crucial shipping passage linking Europe and Asia through the Red Sea. Its importance has grown as the wider US-Iran war has disrupted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
Qatar, meanwhile, warned of devastating consequences if the Bab al-Mandab route were also closed, following the months-long blockade of Hormuz and the Houthis’ recent advances along Yemen’s Red Sea coast.
“The world is already suffering enough from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, so we cannot afford to add Bab al-Mandab to that situation,” Qatar foreign ministry official Ibrahim Al Hashmi told reporters.
He said shutting the southern gateway to the Red Sea would be “catastrophic for the entire world. And we are already seeing the consequences … so Qatar is pressing for diplomacy and dialogue”.
Houthis launch new wave of strikes on Saudi Arabia
The Houthis launched another series of attacks on Saudi Arabia and entrenched themselves along Yemen’s western Red Sea coast, Yemeni officials said, as Riyadh held urgent discussions over how to respond to their rapid advance.
The group said it had fired dozens of missiles and drones at a military airbase in Khamis Mushait in southern Saudi Arabia. It said the attack targeted aircraft hangars, radar installations, runways and ammunition depots in retaliation for Saudi airstrikes in Yemen.
Saudi Arabia also issued brief warnings about possible attacks in the holy city of Mecca and across the Jeddah and Taif governorates.
Damage caused to the East-West pipeline pumping station in Saudi Arabia
Saudi civil defence said the alerts were lifted quickly. The warning for Mecca was the first issued there since the Middle East war began.
The alerts followed a series of ballistic missile and drone attacks launched from Yemen the previous day, which left 13 people injured in the kingdom’s south.
The Houthis’ gains in recent days, including their capture of Perim Island at the entrance to the Red Sea, have added to the pressure on Saudi oil exports. An aerial strike on Thursday forced Saudi Arabia’s east-west pipeline offline, in an attack Riyadh blamed on Iranian-backed militias in Iraq.
Saudi Arabia constructed the 1,200km pipeline across the country from the Gulf to the Red Sea during the 1980s, seeking an alternative route for oil shipments if the Strait of Hormuz came under threat during the Iran-Iraq war.
Traders said a lengthy suspension of the pipeline could remove as much as 4% of global oil supply from the market while the strait remains largely blockaded. Riyadh has not said when the pipeline will return to service.
In response to the Houthi campaign, Saudi and Yemeni aircraft have intensified strikes on Houthi positions, including areas near the historic Red Sea port of Mocha. Yet officials from Yemen’s internationally recognised government said the Houthis still controlled almost the entire western coastline along the Red Sea.
“The Houthis are under intense pressure. They are responding by putting increasing pressure on the Saudis and expanding their missile and drone attacks,” one Yemeni official said.
Crude oil prices climbed by more than 4% on Monday before giving up some of those gains to finish about 1% higher.
US hesitant to step in
The renewed fighting in Yemen presents another test for Mr Trump.
Three sources said Washington had so far declined Saudi requests for direct military involvement beyond providing intelligence support.
Mr Trump said over the weekend that he had spoken with the Saudi crown prince, while the Houthis had also contacted Washington to urge the United States to remain outside the conflict.
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Saudi state media said Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met US regional commander Admiral Brad Cooper in Jeddah.
Saudi Arabia has headed a coalition fighting the Houthis since 2015, although the conflict had largely subsided under a ceasefire in recent years.
Hostilities flared again this month as the Houthis drove back forces supporting Yemen’s internationally recognised government.
