India and four other “friendly nations” were allowed to move their ships through the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said, adding that Tehran had established its “sovereignty” over the waterway linking the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.
He also thanked India and Sri Lanka for their “significant assistance” after Iran’s IRIS Dena vessel was sunk by a US attack in the Indian Ocean during the conflict, and said there were no talks with Washington.
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“We have allowed passage through the Strait of Hormuz to friendly nations including China, Russia, India, Iraq and Pakistan,” Mr Araghchi said in an interview with the Iran News Network broadcast on Wednesday (March 25, 2026) night.
“The Strait of Hormuz is located in the territorial waters of Iran and Oman, and Iran’s sovereignty is established there. We will also have new arrangements for passage through the strait after the war,” he said. “In the incident of the Dena ship, which was unfairly attacked without any warning, I must thank Sri Lanka and India for their significant assistance in moving two other ships to a safe place,” he added.
An Iranian frigate was attacked and sunk by a US Navy submarine on March 4 off the coast of Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean while returning from exercises in Visakhapatnam. At least 87 sailors were killed in the attack. IRIS Lavan and IRIS Bushehr, which also came to the region to participate in the exercise, have now docked in Kochi and Trincomalee, Sri Lanka.
The Strait of Hormuz, which before the war was used by more than a hundred ships a day, has seen traffic drop to single digits since the beginning of the conflict.
At least four Indian-flagged ships – Jag Vasant, Pine Gas, Shivalik and Nanda Devi – have passed through the strait since the US and Israel went to war with Iran on February 28.
Mr Araghchi, who was Iran’s chief negotiator with the US before the war, also said there were no talks with the US. “Currently, our position is to continue to resist, to continue to defend our country. We have no intention of negotiating.”
US President Donald Trump, who on Monday “postponed” a threatened strike on Iran’s energy infrastructure, said Washington was negotiating with Tehran. Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said “indirect negotiations” between the two sides were taking place through messages relayed by Pakistan. “The United States shared the 15 points negotiated by Iran. The brotherly countries of Turkey and Egypt, among others, are also extending their support to this initiative,” Mr. Dar wrote in a post on social media.
On Wednesday, Iranian state media reported that Tehran rejected the US proposal and laid out a five-point plan to end the war, including security guarantees against future aggression, war reparations and a new framework for operating the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump said Thursday that Iran “better get serious soon” in talks “before it’s too late, because once that happens, there’s no going back.” US media reported that the Pentagon is sending more troops to West Asia in preparation for a possible ground offensive against Iran.
Mr. Araghchi said in an interview that U.S. talk of negotiations was “an admission of failure.” “Didn’t they say unconditional surrender? So why are they now mobilizing their top officials to negotiate?” he said, referring to an earlier social media post by Mr. Trump demanding Iran’s unconditional surrender.
“A cease-fire without guarantees is a vicious circle that repeats war. We did not seek war, but we do not want a cease-fire that allows the enemy to attack us again,” he added.
Published – 26 March 2026 11:56 IST
