Iran still believes it’s in a position to negotiate — and that its negotiating position is strong.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Sunday in a call with Pakistan’s prime minister that Iran will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until the United States calls off its own blockade of Iran. What’s more, he cited the lifting of the blockade as a precondition for further talks.

Pezeshkian also called the U.S. restrictions on Iran a “clear breach of the ceasefire understandings” and decried what he called “threatening rhetoric,” saying that such talk does not inspire Iran’s confidence in the good faith of the United States.

The U.S. implemented a naval blockade of Iran April 13 and has since sent 37 ships to the region to hold the line. While the blockade has been in effect, Iran attacked ships passing through the strait, and the U.S. intercepted Iranian ships. The purpose of the blockade, according to President Donald Trump, is to pressure Iran to reopen the vital waterway.

“We can’t let a country extort the world, because that’s what they’re doing,” he said on the day the blockade was enacted, adding that this would also make Iran see the wisdom of negotiating.

But Iran has thumbed its nose at the U.S., saying it will never reopen the Strait of Hormuz as long as the U.S. blockade remains in place.

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, was supposed to meet with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Islamabad, Pakistan, but he left Saturday before the meeting could take place, leading Trump to cancel the trip of the American delegation.