Nuclear file and Hormuz: negotiations collide over priorities
Indirect contacts between Washington and Tehran continue toward a settlement ending the conflict, amid fundamental disagreements over negotiating priorities. Washington insists on including Iran's nuclear programme in any current negotiation, while Tehran confines its priority to reopening the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for ending the naval blockade on its ports and lifting sanctions, under a seven-day plan it presented to Washington that President Donald Trump rejected. Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said the strait will not be reopened before the seven Iranian conditions in the June memorandum are met, and foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said the US reply still focuses on the nuclear file.
Why it matters: The talks tie the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to sanctions relief, making energy chokepoints and sanctions the pivot of US–Iran bargaining.