Iran and US Trade Threats Over Hormuz as Diplomacy Stalls at SCO Summit

The US-Iran confrontation deepened on September 1 as both sides escalated rhetoric and traded accusations of violating the Islamabad memorandum of understanding that had briefly halted hostilities. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei accused Washington of breaching commitments contained in the agreement within roughly three weeks of signing it, calling the violations "gross and widespread," while the White House told Al Jazeera that Iran wants to make a deal but will not go far enough. Trump separately threatened to "hit Iran hard" after the two countries traded strikes.

Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned that if the US siege is intensified, Tehran "will definitely respond militarily," and separately accused the US of giving ships "false guarantees" about safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz. Traffic through the strait remained severely restricted, with Kepler data showing only about five vessels moving through on Monday, none of them liquid-carrying tankers. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran would "immediately reciprocate" a return to the June memorandum if Washington complied first, but Iran's Foreign Ministry simultaneously stated that the current situation does not allow for a return to the deal, and Baghaei rejected any process Tehran perceives as dictation rather than genuine negotiation.

On the diplomatic margins, Pezeshkian met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Bishkek on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, where Putin said Moscow is supporting Iran by supplying necessary goods and that bilateral trade has maintained last year's momentum despite the conflict. Putin described the Iran-US ceasefire as having proven fragile and said Russia welcomed but regrets the breakdown of the memorandum. Pezeshkian thanked Russia for its support and said Iran is capable of resisting US unilateralism.

Iran's Foreign Ministry also addressed regional realignment, with Baghaei saying Turkey, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have concluded they cannot rely solely on US security guarantees and are moving toward greater regional cooperation. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan on the SCO sidelines. Iran said it sees no threat in a Turkey-Pakistan-Saudi trilateral security arrangement. Treasury Secretary Bessent added a longer-term dimension, saying the Strait of Hormuz will be "bypassed" within two years, a signal that Washington is pursuing infrastructure alternatives to the chokepoint Iran currently dominates.