Iran's FM says normal traffic in Hormuz hinges on ending war

TEHRAN, May 7 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi has said that maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz will only return to normal when the U.S.-Israeli war stops permanently and the U.S. naval blockade and "illegal" sanctions against Iran are lifted.

In a letter addressed to the United Nations (UN), Araghchi criticized a "unilateral and provocative" draft resolution presented to the Security Council by the United States and Bahrain about the situation of the Strait of Hormuz, according to a statement released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry on Thursday.

The United States and a number of Arab states met at the UN in New York on Wednesday to discuss the new resolution to guarantee freedom of navigation in the strait.

The draft resolution urges Iran to, among other things, cease attacks, laying mines and applying tolls in the waterway.

Araghchi stressed that the draft resolution makes no mention of the main cause of the current situation in the Strait of Hormuz, namely the "military aggression and illegal use of force" by the United States and Israel against Iran.

The real objective of the draft is to distort the facts on the ground and justify the U.S. past and present "illegal" actions against Iran in the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, he said.

He called on the international community not to allow the Security Council to be abused by aggressors or to become a tool to legitimize their illegal actions.

Iran tightened its grip on the Strait of Hormuz beginning Feb. 28, when it barred safe passage to vessels belonging to or affiliated with Israel and the United States following their joint strikes on Iranian territory.

The United States imposed its blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, preventing ships traveling to and from Iranian ports from transiting the waterway, after post-ceasefire negotiations with Iran in Pakistan's capital Islamabad on April 11 and 12 failed to lead to an agreement.