Kazem Gharibabadi, Deputy Foreign Minister, Accused United States of Dismantling

Kazem Gharibabadi, deputy foreign minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran, said in an interview with state broadcaster IRIB on Tuesday night, July 23, that the United States had “disrupted” the Islamabad memorandum of understanding. The interview, which took place hours before the U.S. forces reinstated a naval blockade on Iran, described the Islamic Republic’s conduct toward ships intending to pass through the Strait of Hormuz as “in accordance with sovereign rights” and consistent with the terms of the Islamabad memorandum. However, citing Israel’s continued attacks on Lebanon in the weeks after the memorandum was signed, as well as Trump’s order to resume the naval blockade of Iranian ports, he said these amounted to violations of the memorandum’s terms and to its “disruption.” According to the U.S. president’s order, the naval blockade against Iranian ports and vessels linked to Iran will resume at 11:30 p.m. Tehran time. 1