US forces patrol the Arabian Sea near M/V Touska, after firing upon the Iranian-flagged vessel that the US accused of attempting to violate the US naval blockade of Iranian ports near the Strait of Hormuz.

• Iran urged the US to reduce its demands.
• Negotiations between the two countries have been stalled since a ceasefire took effect.
• Iran has blocked nearly all shipping into and out of the Gulf.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said on Monday that the US must reduce its demands on the Islamic Republic, with negotiations stalled over ending the two-month-long Middle East war.

“At this stage, our priority is to end the war,” he said in a briefing broadcast by state television.

“The other side must commit to a reasonable approach and abandon its excessive demands regarding Iran.”

Negotiations between the two countries have been stalled since a ceasefire took effect on 8 April, with only one round of direct peace talks held so far.

A key sticking point has been Iran’s stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz since the US and Israel launched strikes on 28 February, choking off major flows of oil, gas and fertiliser, while the US has imposed a blockade on Iranian ports.

READ | Trump vows to escort ships through Strait of Hormuz as Iran rejects ‘pirate’ US plan

But US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that Washington would begin escorting ships through the waterway, drawing a threat of attacks from the Iranian military.

“By now, the Americans should have learned that they cannot use the language of threats and force against the Iranian nation,” said Baqaei.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has shown that it considers itself the guardian and protector of the Strait of Hormuz and this vital waterway.”

He said the strait was a “secure and safe route” for international shipping before the war.

“The international community must hold the United States and the Zionist regime accountable for imposing insecurity on this waterway and for creating problems that are being felt across the world,” he added, referring to Israel.

Baqaei told state television before Trump’s announcement of an escort plan that Tehran had submitted a 14-point proposal “focused on ending the war”, and that Washington had responded to it in a message to Pakistani mediators.

French President Emmanuel Macron urged the US and Iran on Monday to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in a “coordinated” way, as the US military pressed ahead with a mission to escort ships out of the waterway.

“What we want above all is a coordinated reopening by the United States and Iran - that is the only solution for reopening the Strait of Hormuz,” Macron said at a meeting of European leaders in Armenia.

“We are not going to take part in any military operation in a framework that to me seems unclear,” said the French leader, whose country has, with Britain, led efforts to assemble a coalition to reopen the strait once peace is secured.

Reuters reported that Iran has blocked nearly all shipping into and out of the Gulf apart from its own since the start of the war, cutting off around a fifth of the world’s oil and gas shipments and sending oil prices soaring by 50% or more.

Iran’s unified command told commercial ships and oil tankers to refrain from any movement that was not coordinated with Iran’s military.

“We have repeatedly said the security of the Strait of Hormuz is in our hands and that the safe passage of vessels needs to be coordinated with the armed forces,” Ali Abdollahi, head of the forces’ unified command, said in the statement.

“We warn that any foreign armed forces, especially the aggressive US Army, will be attacked if they intend to approach and enter the Strait of ⁠Hormuz.”