NEW YORK: Iran can reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days if the United States eases military pressure and lifts its blockade on Iranian ports, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Tuesday.
On Sunday, Iran's military central command said it was informed the US was preparing to restart military operations with the support of regional countries and warned this would lead to Tehran's retaliation "without limitations and considerations".
"The US needs to announce that it wants to resolve the issue diplomatically, make that official, and then agree on a timeline for how the process will move forward", the senior Iranian official said, adding the Iranian delegation to the United Nations General Assembly is in New York and has full authority to revive diplomacy with the United States.
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian, who left Tehran for New York on Tuesday morning, will not meet U.S. President Donald Trump at the UN headquarters in New York, the official told Reuters.
The Iranian official said details on an agreement to end hostilities with Washington can be discussed in New York via mediators, explaining that Tehran's proposal was delivered to the US via mediators on September 16.
"The UN General Assembly is a golden opportunity for the US to return to diplomacy", the official said, adding that Tehran will welcome a revival of diplomacy if Washington takes tangible steps.
Saudi Arabia has restarted operations at its East-West Pipeline and could resume exports from the Red Sea port of Yanbu later on Tuesday, three sources briefed on the matter said.
Drone attacks forced Saudi Arabia to shut its East-West Pipeline on September 13, halting crude loadings at the kingdom's Yanbu port.
The resumption of supplies on Tuesday helped to drive selling on global oil markets, traders said. Brent crude futures fell by more than $2 a barrel to its lowest since September 8.
Since disruption to oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz following the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, OPEC's leading oil exporter has been using the pipeline to reroute around 4 million barrels per day - around 4% of global supply - to Yanbu.
The pipeline was pumping at a low rate after its restart, two of the sources said. State oil firm Saudi Aramco was seeking to increase the pumping rate to 4 million barrels per day, one of them said, without saying when this could be achieved.
Saudi Aramco did not immediately respond to a request for comment."
The pipeline will resume crude supply to Aramco refineries located on the Red Sea coast, one of the sources said, adding that one cargo was scheduled to load at Yanbu later on Tuesday. The person said it would be bound for China.
Another two trading sources said traders were getting ready for Saudi oil loadings by moving tankers to Egypt's Mediterranean Port Said for ship-to-ship transfers and also to Sidi Kerir.
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