Iran’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Monday that Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei had granted the government “certain powers” to pursue talks with the United States aimed at ending the Middle East war. His remarks came shortly after Iran’s foreign ministry said Tehran was exchanging messages with Washington through mediators. “We are striving to resolve the issue through dialogue. In this regard, the Supreme Leader has also conferred certain powers on the government,” Pezeshkian was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the envoy would focus on efforts to reduce tensions in the region, the Associated Press reported.
Earlier in the day, Iran said it had a two-day plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and resume nuclear talks with Washington, shortening the timeline from an earlier proposal that was expected to take seven days. Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said the proposal remained the basis for negotiations with Washington through mediators, despite the shorter implementation timeline. Xi said the Gulf region “should not become an arena for great-power rivalry and geopolitical conflict”, according to a readout of the meeting.
The plan is conditional on the US meeting Tehran’s demands. The announcement followed a meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said on Monday.