Mediators are attempting to persuade the US and Iran to halt hostilities, proposing a 10-day truce and a return to negotiations to reach an agreement on the management of shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
Sources told The National the mediators are trying to convince Washington and Tehran to clarify the “ambiguous language” in last month's agreement, which has led to differing interpretations about controlling navigation through the strait.
“The mediators are trying to fix misinterpretations of some of the elastic language in the memorandum,” said one source. “Each party has its own intentions and interpreted some of the language in a way that benefits it.”
The mediators, from Pakistan, Qatar, Turkey and Egypt, have proposed to the US and Iran a 10-day truce, considering it to be long enough for both sides to iron out points of contention over the Strait of Hormuz.
“It is worth a try, but the mediators are getting the distinct impression that Iran will not allow the running of Hormuz except on its own conditions,” said a source.
Mediators are also trying to convince the two parties to agree a deal under which Iran, the US and Oman would co-ordinate to manage navigation in the waterway.
The Strait of Hormuz is at the heart of the latest exchange of attacks, with Iran rejecting US demands to keep maritime traffic flowing freely under last month's ceasefire. Renewed hostilities have led to nearly a 20 per cent surge in oil prices.
Tehran, insisting it has a right to manage traffic in the strait, has responded to the US strikes by attacking military targets in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait and Iraq.
The US military has announced the deaths of three service members in northern Iraq and Jordan since Friday, and another is still missing.
Esmaeil Baghaei, a spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, said that “ideas from some mediators have been conveyed” to Tehran.
Pakistan and Qatar, which are leading mediation efforts, regard a return to US-Iran positions before July 9 – when the latest round of hostilities began – as a first step, according to the semi-official Iranian Students’ News Agency.
Asked about reports that mediators had proposed a 10-day truce, a US official said President Donald Trump remains focused on punishing Iran for attacking ships in the strait, Bloomberg reported. The strikes would continue until Mr Trump chose a different course of action, the official said.
Mediators fear persisting hostilities could become an open-ended war of attrition, with grave consequences for the global economy. Another concern is the possibility that Israel re-enters the conflict.
As one of the mediators, Egypt is also pushing to reinstate the ceasefire because of the Houthi rebels' threat to blockade Saudi Arabia or close the Bab Al Mandeb strait. That would disrupt traffic in the Suez Canal, the waterway that links the Mediterranean to the Red Sea.
Egypt, like the other mediators, is a US ally but maintains relations with Iran. The war has left it in the awkward position of having to publicly condemn Iran's attacks on its Arab neighbours, some of which are among Cairo's major economic backers, while continuing to engage Tehran in efforts to end the conflict.
