Gulf states link Hormuz reopening to sanctions relief and Houthi withdrawal

Iran says it will hold only in-principle nuclear talks; inspectors’ return unresolved

Gulf states are working on a multipronged peace proposal that The Guardian said would reopen the Strait of Hormuz within four days after economic sanctions on Iran are lifted and call for the Houthis to withdraw substantial forces from inside Yemen. The Gulf states say the package could avert renewed conflict between Iran and the United States.

The Guardian reported that Iran remained focused solely on the guarantees of sanctions relief it would receive in return for reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Dr Ali Bagheri, the deputy secretary of Iran’s national security council, said Iran’s proposal called for the strait to reopen seven days after economic sanctions are lifted, and that Iran was willing to reduce that period to four days.

The United States is aware of the talks’ progress but is holding out for a concession that European powers suggest could involve Iran allowing UN weapons inspectors back into the country. European diplomats believe allowing the inspectors to reenter Iran and visit its bombed nuclear sites is a minimum requirement for a breakthrough with President Donald Trump, The Guardian reported.

British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband urged Iranians to agree to readmit the inspectors when he met Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in New York. Iran has so far refused, saying it will hold only talks in principle on its nuclear program.

The proposal also reaches into the parallel conflict in Yemen. The Guardian reported that Iran was beginning to acknowledge a mediating role in that conflict. Mohsen Rezaei, Iran’s secretary of the supreme national security council, met Houthi ambassador to Iran Ibrahim al-Dulaimi on Tuesday. The meeting came 24 hours after a high-level delegation from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan traveled to Tehran to discuss Saudi terms for ending the Yemen conflict and a longer-term security architecture for the region.

The Guardian reported that Iran backs the Houthis and has the power to influence them, including by devising proposals that stop short of a Houthi military victory that many say is unobtainable. In return, the Houthis demand that Saudi Arabia lift what they regard as a naval and air blockade on Houthi-held territory.

The Guardian reported that Iran prevented discussion of its nuclear program at the meeting with Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan and steered the meeting toward a broader discussion of a long-term regional security vision. That vision would include the Gulf states and Iran and would see the United States’ presence in the Middle East reduced or ended.

The Guardian said a new non-aggression pact, under which Iran would no longer be ostracized by the rest of the Gulf as it has been since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, would meet Iran’s highest strategic goal. The Guardian said an agreed commitment to that goal by six Gulf states might also make it easier for Iran to accept potentially difficult tactical concessions that it would be required to make concerning its nuclear program.

At a televised event in Iran this week, Araghchi emphasized the importance of a new postwar security pact to Iran, The Guardian reported. He said: “Recently, there has been talk of a new war but I am already thinking about the postwar period. Whether there is war or not, our policies remain the same.”

One of the key advocates of the inclusive security plan was Oman’s foreign minister, Badr Albusaidi. He said he believed the United States administration understood that this was the direction in which the region was heading. He said: “I think if Iran is fully re-engaged in this idea of having all of us, eight countries at peace with the rest of the world, the economic potential is going to be enormous for all of us in the region and those outside the region who choose to take part in this development. We have really discussed this in at length during the talks between Iran and the United States, and I think there is general acceptance that this will be the direction of travel once we have a deal in place at the end of the day.”

The Guardian reported no final agreement, with the inspectors’ return, the sanctions sequence for reopening the strait and the terms for a Houthi withdrawal still unresolved.