Iran asks US to prove it wants peace by lifting blockade

Iran said the US must lift its naval blockade and show it's serious about ending the war diplomatically, as a deadlock over talks and growing threats from both sides fuel fears of a return to outright conflict.

"Iran is prepared to give diplomacy another chance if we see strong evidence of a sincere desire on the part of the US to achieve a just and honourable solution to permanently end this conflict," Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote in an op-ed in the Financial Times.

In an earlier interview with Iraqi media, Araghchi urged the US to return to the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding that was signed in June but quickly collapsed.


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