- Iran's ambassador assured the Strait of Hormuz will stay open for Indian ships amid tensions
- Tehran named India among five friendly countries ensuring Indian vessel passage through the strait
- US demands caused breakdown in Islamabad talks, Iran accused US of seeking submission
Iran's Ambassador to India Mohammad Fathali has told NDTV that the Strait of Hormuz will remain open for Indian ships, even as Tehran warns of economic consequences from a US Navy blockade in the Persian Gulf. Iran also held out the possibility of resumed hostilities if Washington did not withdraw what Fathali described as "unlawful demands."
In his first interview since the collapse of Iran-US talks in Islamabad, Fathali said New Delhi has been specifically named by Iran's foreign minister as among five countries Tehran considers friendly. He said direct government-to-government contact is already underway to ensure the passage of Indian vessels through the strait.
"We have good contact with the [Indian] government for allowing their ships to sail through the Strait of Hormuz," Fathali told NDTV.
The assurance came amid India's oil purchases from Iran since sanctions were lifted, and any disruption to shipping lanes through the strait would have a strong effect on the energy supply chain. The strait handles roughly a fifth of the world's oil traffic.
On what broke the Islamabad talks, Fathali said the US came to the table not to negotiate but to demand submission.
"Our delegation said that if you avoid your unlawful demands and recognise our rights and our interests, the negotiation can continue," he said. "Unfortunately, the delegation of the United States of America entered this negotiation table, not for negotiation, but for our submission," the envoy told NDTV.
He cited Iran's "bad experiences" with American commitments, alluding to Washington's 2018 exit from the nuclear deal, and said the US had a "miscalculation" about Iran's capacity and the resolve of its people. The future of any dialogue depends on whether Washington retreats from those demands, he added.
Fathali warned of consequences that would extend well beyond the US and Iran as the American blockade starts taking shape in the Persian Gulf.
"The blocking of the Strait of Hormuz destroys all the economic world, destroys all the norms, destroys all the international law," he said, adding oil prices would reflect the situation "in the near future."
Iran had threatened port infrastructure across the Gulf, which analysts indicated as a sign that the ceasefire may be nearing its end. Fathali, however, clarified that Tehran's strikes were aimed at US bases that had been used to target Iranian infrastructure, and not at neighbouring countries with whom Iran maintains what he described as good relations.
"We attack the US bases because from these bases they targeted infrastructure in our country," he said.
Yesterday, Iran said that a phone call from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to US Vice President JD Vance made in the middle of negotiations derailed what could have been a breakthrough in the Iran-US standoff.
Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi made the allegation on X, hours after Vance left Islamabad without an agreement following over 21 hours of talks in the Pakistani capital.
"Netanyahu's call to Vance during the meeting shifted the focus from US-Iran negotiations to Israel's interests," Araghchi wrote. "The US tried to achieve at the negotiating table what it could not achieve through war."
