Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref has expressed his hope that the negotiations in Switzerland “will come to fruition”, adding that “we are entering a new space, a space where boycotting any country in the Arab region will no longer be an option and is out of the question,” Al Jazeera reports.

“This is because we had a strong tool that was stronger than the other side’s, and we had not used it at all, and now we are using it,” said the senior official speaking at a government meeting on Sunday, according to Iran’s ISNA news agency.

Aref also sounded a warning, saying that “the Strait of Hormuz belongs to Iran, and our ancestors have sacrificed many lives throughout history to protect the strait, and the strait should not be crossed simply”.