Foreign Minister: The United States could have addressed ambiguities in Clause 5 of the agreement regarding the Strait of Hormuz through dialogue, but chose another way…

Use of the southern route began about 10 days after the Strait was reopened. From our perspective, this action was truly malicious.

They could have allowed the provisions of Clause 5 to run their natural course and then, at the end of the set deadline, assess whether conditions had proceeded in an orderly manner and in accordance with the prior agreement.

But what became clear to us was that the issue went beyond a misunderstanding. It seemed they insisted on creating other routes alongside the route that Iran had defined to ensure safe and free passage.

The Americans were diverting ships away from the route set by Iran and, in practice, steering them toward another route.