BUERGENSTOCK, Switzerland, June 22– U.S. Vice President JD Vance said here on Monday that the Strait of Hormuz is open and crude oil and natural gas are flowing through. “We wanted to build a mechanism for keeping the Strait of Hormuz open.
It is open,” said Vance as he delivered remarks after the first session of U.S.-Iran talks concluded at central Switzerland’s Buergenstock resort. Gas prices and oil prices come down, millions and millions of barrels of crude and natural gas are flowing through the Strait of Hormuz that weren’t flowing before, he added.
The Strait of Hormuz handles roughly 20 percent of the world’s seaborne oil flows. Iran tightened its grip on the Strait of Hormuz after Israel and the U.S. launched their joint strikes on Iran on Feb. 28.
The U.S. imposed a naval blockade targeting ships going to and from Iran. Vance also said that the Iranians have agreed to invite the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors back into their country.
Calling this “a major milestone,” Vance said it is the first step in permanently denuclearizing or permanently ending a nuclear weapons program in Iran.
U.S. and Iranian negotiators, under Qatari and Pakistani mediation, began their talks on Sunday at the Burgenstock mountain resort in central Switzerland, marking the first direct talks between the two sides since the signing of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Thursday. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
