In his statement, Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf stresses that the country’s national security lies in “preserving the ‘Iranian arrangements’ over the Strait of Hormuz and ensuring the maximum safe and harmless passage of commercial ships through this waterway”.

“America, which is legally empty-handed, wants to diminish the Iranian arrangements in the Strait of Hormuz by force, but we must stand firm so that the rights of the nation are realised,” he is quoted as saying by the Tasnim news agency.