Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says Tehran has not asked the US “for a ceasefire”
In an interview with CBS News, the BBC’s US media partner, Araghchi also says Iran doesn’t “see any reason why we should talk with [the] Americans, because we were talking with them when they decided to attack us”
US President Donald Trump had said on Saturday Iran wanted to make a deal, but that he felt the terms were “not good enough”
Meanwhile, Trump has had a phone call with PM Keir Starmer – the UK government says the pair spoke about the “importance of reopening the Strait of Hormuz to end the disruption to global shipping”
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright earlier told ABC News that the United States “knew there would be a temporary interruption of flows” through the Strait of Hormuz after launching strikes on Iran.
There were many contingency plans, he said, and it involved “some allies”, including Saudi Arabia, positioning “over 100 million barrels” of oil in storage outside the Middle East before the conflict.
“Meticulous planning went into what might happen with the Strait of Hormuz, how to deal with that,” he said.
Speaking to NBC shortly after, he conceded that the strait is currently not safe for shipping, and that the US goal is to “reopen it” and help bring down rising gas prices.
“Americans are feeling it right now. Americans will feel it for a few more weeks, but in the end, we will have removed the greatest risk to global energy supplies,” he adds.
Asked if this statement means he believes the war will be over in a few weeks, he says: “I think that’s the likely time-frame, yes.”
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