TEHRAN: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi declared on Sunday that there was no military solution to the US’ war against the Islamic Republic and that only negotiations based on “justice and fairness” could end the conflict, as talks between Washington and Tehran appeared to be at an impasse.

“If our enemies again choose the path of military confrontation, our response will be stronger than before, and we will defend ourselves with even more force,” Araghchi told a gathering of foreign ambassadors in Tehran.

“There is no military solution, nor any solution based on new sanctions,” he continued, adding “only negotiations based on justice and fairness” could end the conflict.

Tensions continue to centre on the standoff between the US and Iran regarding the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical conduit for Gulf oil and gas.

Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf reiterated that the vital Strait of Hormuz will not reopen until seven Iranian conditions set out in a June interim agreement with the US are met.

“The position of the Islamic Republic of Iran is completely clear and firm, and the strait of Hormuz will not be opened until our seven conditions, based on the Islamabad memorandum of understanding, are met,” he was quoted by state media as saying.

Ghalibaf added that Washington “must understand that the period of dragging out the process and dictating one-sided demands is over”.

Iranian and US officials held indirect talks last week on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, during which Tehran said it presented its seven conditions.

The conditions include a ceasefire across the Middle East, the unfreezing of Iranian assets abroad, the lifting of sanctions on its oil sector and an end to the US naval blockade.

US President Donald Trump publicly rejected the proposal while leaving the door open to both further talks and renewed military operations. The US nonetheless replied to Tehran’s proposal last week, with Qatar shuttling messages between the two sides in an effort to end the conflict and reopen the strait.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said that the latest US counterproposals were “more or less in line with their previous positions, specifically on the nuclear issue”, but that Tehran’s focus was on Hormuz.

“We have clearly indicated that we are focusing on the issue of the Strait of Hormuz,” he said, adding that reopening the waterway required an end to disruption of Iranian maritime traffic and the lifting of sanctions.

He denied that Tehran had offered UN nuclear watchdog inspections of its facilities in exchange for sanctions relief, saying Iran had not entered into nuclear discussions.

The US has not struck Iran since Sept 1 but has continued a fresh military buildup.

Axios reported that Washington had deployed additional Patriot missile batteries to Saudi Arabia and Qatar to protect energy facilities, and that the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group was heading to the Middle East.

Iran’s army, meanwhile, said it would upgrade the range of its missiles, underlining Tehran’s warning that it is preparing for further confrontation even as it continues to call for diplomacy.

Separately, Iran’s Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad has resigned and Hamid Bovard, chief executive of the government-owned National Iranian Oil Company, will be in charge of the ministry as acting minister, state media said on Sunday, without providing a reason for the resignation.

Mohsen Paknejad has been the oil mini­ster of the Opec member country since August 2024 and resigns as the seven-month war between Iran and the US puts pressure on the country’s economy.

“With acceptance of Mohsen Paknejad’s resignation by Dr Pezeshkian [the country’s president], Hamid Bovard has been appointed as acting oil minister”, state media cited an official at the president’s office as saying.

Paknejad was cited by state media, ahead of the news of his resignation, as saying “revenues of the oil that we have sold are still coming and that will continue God willing”.

Published in Dawn, October 5th, 2026