Dr. Mehdi Zaribaf, head of Iran's Research Center for Economic Models and Foundations, said the U.S. agreed to a deal with Iran partly because the Strait of Hormuz closure threatened a sharp oil price spike. He argued Iran's control of the strait is a key leverage tool for securing compensation and imposing a new regional order, and criticized the idea of a reconstruction fund as benefiting Zionist companies.
Dr. Mehdi Zaribaf, the head of Iran's Research Center for Economic Models and Foundations, offered a blunt assessment of Tehran's strategic calculus in a statement circulated Tuesday evening on Iranian Telegram news channels. He asserted that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz — which Iran declared last week — created enough pressure on global oil markets to force the United States into a deal with Iran. "If the Strait of Hormuz had remained closed for a while longer, oil prices would have skyrocketed sharply, and that is why the U.S. reached an agreement with Iran," Zaribaf said, according to the reports.
Zaribaf described Iran's ability to control the waterway as a central pressure lever that could help Tehran extract compensation and impose a new regional order. He also criticized proposals for a reconstruction fund, arguing: "Why should we establish a reconstruction fund so they can continue to attack, and Zionist companies will carry out the reconstruction for us?"
As The Zioneer has previously reported (BACKGROUND relation), the Strait of Hormuz crisis and the emerging U.S.-Iran framework have been a central geopolitical story this month. Zaribaf's remarks reflect a common Iranian establishment view that sees the strait's closure as a successful strategic gambit, not merely a military threat. No independent confirmation of the specific deal terms he references is available from this report.
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