One of Iran’s top security officials resigned on Sunday and was replaced by another veteran commander of the country’s Revolutionary Guards amid the ongoing diplomatic efforts to reach a deal to open the Strait of Hormuz.
One of Iran’s top security officials resigned on Sunday and was replaced by another veteran commander of the country’s Revolutionary Guards amid the ongoing diplomatic efforts to reach a deal to open the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s state media reported late Sunday that Mohsen Rezaei, who is also an adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, had replaced Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr as secretary of Iran’s powerful Supreme National Security Council.
With the new role, Rezaei will also be the Iranian supreme leader’s representative to the council. It is pertinent to note that Zolghadr’s tenure in the office was short-lived, since he was appointed just months ago after his predecessor, Ali Larijani, was killed in an air strike in March.
It is not immediately clear how this change would affect Iran’s stance in the ongoing talks since both Rezaei and Zolghadr are hardliners. It is also important to point out that any deal to open the Strait of Hormuz must be approved by this Security Council and Khamenei himself.
On Saturday, Zolghadr said that for r Tehran to agree to a deal to open the waterway, the US should withdraw its forces from the vicinity of the republic, pay compensation for war damage and lift its sanctions. His remarks on the matter came just days after Iranian diplomats revealed that the country and Oman were in the final stages of agreeing to a new agreement to manage traffic through the Gulf chokepoint.
Iran remains stern
Zolghadr’s statement was eventually echoed by Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, who has been leading the negotiations with Muscat. “The agreement with Oman may happen, but reopening the strait is conditional on several requirements,” Araghchi said on Sunday. “To us, there is no possibility of resuming the negotiations [with Washington] until the US ends its violations of the memorandum of understanding and compensates for what it has violated.”
The United States and Iran agreed to an MoU back in June that was meant to extend a ceasefire between the two nations and allow shipping to gradually return to its prewar levels, toll-free. However, that deal collapsed after Iran targeted ships transiting through a channel along Oman’s coast and Washington unleashed lethal strikes for 13 nights straight.
The hostilities eased as Iran held talks with Oman to agree on a temporary route through the waterway, which diplomats hoped would resolve the stand-off. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, a reformist who also chairs the security council, on Saturday advocated for a deal on the strait.
He said it was “the best time to reach an agreement since there is cohesion, strength and unity in the country”. “We cannot fight forever. It has to be brought to an end at some point,” said Pezeshkian, who recently met Khamenei, according to the supreme leader’s office.
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