Iran Acknowledges Receipt Of US Letter On Strait Of Hormuz

Tehran, Jan 16, IRNA – Iran on Sunday acknowledged receipt of a letter from the United States administration on the Strait of Hormuz. Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said that the US administration forwarded the letter to the Islamic Republic of Iran via three channels -- Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, US Ambassador to United Nations Susan Rice and Swiss Ambassador to Iran Livia Leu Agosti. Mehmanparast made it clear that the visit to Tehran of Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu had nothing to do with the US letter about the Strait of Hormuz. Mehmanparast added that Iraqi President Jalal Talabani had delivered the letter to Iran, and US ambassador to UN had delivered another copy to the Iranian Representative to United Nations while the third was delivered to Iran by Swiss ambassador to Tehran Ms Leu Agosti. Asked whether Iran has responded to the letter, Mehmanparast said that Iran is studying the letter and will respond to it if it deemed necessary. Tehran says that the US has violated Iranian national sovereignty by enforcing unilateral sanctions and boycotting the Central Bank of Iran which accounts for declaring war and making it difficult for Iranian oil customers to pay for Iranian oil. Iran said that the US administration must respect Iranian national sovereignty and must resolve the dispute over the national nuclear program on the negotiating table. Iran protested to US and UK governments over assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists by magnetic bombs and held them responsible for the state terrorism. The US and UK governments have not condemned assassination of five Iranian scientists and Iran says that it has firm evidences and confessions of the terrorists arrested afterwards that the US and UK governments have involved in extrajudicial killings of Iranian scientists. The Charter of the United Nations forbids targeted killings and extrajudicial assassination of personalities and Iran reserves the right to take the US and UK governments to the International Court of Justice in The Hague./end