Iran Says US Has No Right to Dictate Other Countries' Policies

JAKARTA - Iranian officials on Tuesday insisted the United States had no right to dictate what other countries did, as Washington considered Tehran's new proposal for reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran has effectively shut down the strategic waterway since the start of the war with the United States and Israel, sending shockwaves through global energy markets and putting the strait at the center of negotiations to end the conflict.

"The United States no longer has the right to dictate its policies to independent countries," said Ministry of Defense spokesman Reza Talaei-Nik, according to state television, adding that Washington would "accept that they must abandon their illegal and irrational demands," as reported by Al Arabiya from AFP (28/4).

Talaei-Nik, speaking ahead of a meeting of defense ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), said Iran was also "ready to share its defense military capabilities with independent countries, especially SCO member countries".

It is understood that the proposal under consideration in Washington would reportedly reopen the Strait of Hormuz - a vital route for global oil and gas shipments - while wider negotiations on the war continue.

However, US President Donald Trump is reportedly dissatisfied with Iran's proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the US-Israeli war against Iran.

According to a report by the New York Times citing an anonymous source, Trump was briefed on Tehran's plans, which included ending the US blockade on the vital waterway, without discussing Iran's nuclear program, during a meeting in the White House Situation Room.

It was not immediately clear what exactly made Trump dissatisfied, but he has long insisted on both nuclear demands. An anonymous US official said, accepting it would publicly deny President Trump's victory.

Although a ceasefire has halted fighting between Iran, the US, and Israel, talks to end the conflict permanently have not borne fruit.