Iran's Mojtaba Khamenei endorses direct talks with US as hostilities end

In his first comments since the US-Iran agreement to end hostilities, Khamenei said future face-to-face negotiations with Washington would not amount to accepting the other side's position

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei endorsed direct negotiations with the US late Thursday in a statement read by state media.

"It is obvious that the face-to-face negotiations that will be held in the future will not mean accepting the enemy's opinion," he said.

It was Khamenei's first reaction to the deal recently reached between Iran and the US to end hostilities.

The supreme leader has not been seen in public since he was wounded in a strike at the start of the war.

Meanwhile, the US military has formally lifted the blockade of Iranian shipping, US Central Command announced in a social media post Thursday.

The announcement comes just hours after Vice President JD Vance told reporters that 12.5 million barrels of oil went through the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday and that the military has allowed "north of a dozen ships to go through our naval blockade."  However, the post from US Central Command said that US Navy ships "will remain in the general area to make sure that all aspects of the agreement are adhered to, obeyed and in full force and effect."  The US Navy currently has more than a dozen ships, including two aircraft carriers, in the the waters off Iran.