Iran has offered the United States a seven-day plan to reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz and resume stalled talks on its nuclear programme, with foreign minister Abbas Araghchi saying the next move now rests with Washington.Under the proposal, Iran would reopen the waterway if the United States lifts its naval blockade of Iranian ports, waives sanctions on Iranian oil sales and observes a ceasefire that includes Lebanon, according to Araghchi’s remarks to reporters outside the United Nations Security Council on Friday.“If the necessary conditions are met, the strait can be reopened, a normal maritime passage restored within seven days. The choice now rests with the United States,” he said.“The seven-day timeline will start as soon as the United States accepts this plan,” Araghchi said.Iran’s proposal would also restart talks with Washington on a final agreement covering Tehran’s nuclear programme.
How Iran’s seven-day plan would work
Araghchi said the initial steps would take four to five days, with the Strait of Hormuz reopening on the sixth day.“And on day seven, the talks with the U.S. will be started for the final deal on mutually agreed subjects,” he said.Araghchi said the measures Washington would need to take were already included in the memorandum of understanding agreed between Iran and the United States in June.“The actions that the United States should should take are not new. They are all already in the MOU,” he said.The proposal was conveyed to Washington through Qatar, which has played a key role in mediating between Iran and the United States.
Hormuz becomes Iran’s main bargaining tool
Iran’s disruption of the Strait of Hormuz has emerged as a central source of leverage in its confrontation with Washington.Before the war, about a fifth of the world’s traded oil and gas passed through the strategic waterway, according to the supplied report. Disruptions have affected energy markets beyond the Middle East and created political pressure on the Trump administration ahead of the US midterm elections.The White House said US officials were engaged in positive and constructive conversations with mediators on the Iran war. It also said the United States was facilitating significant oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz.There was no immediate public response from Gulf Arab governments to Iran’s latest proposal. However, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press that Saudi Arabia was skeptical of the latest diplomatic push.
Proposal resembles failed June agreement
The latest Iranian proposal resembles an interim agreement reached in June, but with a much shorter timetable.The earlier arrangement envisaged a 60-day interim period but subsequently collapsed after Iran resumed attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the supplied report.US President Donald Trump has said he is in no rush to reach a deal, even as elevated oil prices contribute to inflation.On the Iranian side, the proposal could face resistance from hard-liners who have criticised President Masoud Pezeshkian and Araghchi’s diplomatic efforts.“If Trump calculates this arrangement is worthwhile and can bring political benefit before the midterms and reduce gas prices, perhaps we’ll see flexibility not seen in previous weeks,” said Trita Parsi, executive vice president at the Quincy Institute think tank.Parsi also pointed to “deep suspicion” over whether Iran could use an agreement to buy time, move more oil and ease economic pressure.
Qatar pushes diplomatic contacts
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian hosted Qatar’s prime minister on Friday, in another sign of renewed diplomatic activity.Qatar has been involved in mediation between Tehran and Washington, including indirect contacts during the UN General Assembly.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that “if there’s an opportunity to exchange ideas and messages, we will.”But repeated failures to reach a lasting agreement have left both sides deeply distrustful. The United States and Israel have attacked Iran while it was engaged in nuclear talks, while Washington and Tehran have accused each other of violating the June agreement.Hamidreza Azizi, senior Iran analyst at the International Crisis Group, said Tehran likely expected the proposal to face rejection.“The Iranians already know that the chances of this not being accepted by Trump are much higher than the opposite,” he wrote on X.“They want to show that they were ready for diplomacy and that it was the United States that, for the third time, decided to attack in the middle of a diplomatic track — something that people within (Iran’s) strategic community have been anticipating over the past few days,” he said.
Yemen conflict complicates Hormuz proposal
Iran’s proposal includes Lebanon, where Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have largely observed a ceasefire. It remains unclear whether the plan would also cover the renewed conflict involving Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels and Saudi Arabia.The Houthi attacks have added pressure to global markets and raised concerns about another strategic maritime chokepoint, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the southern end of the Red Sea.Iran appears to view the Houthis’ ability to threaten the Bab el-Mandeb as another source of leverage in negotiations with Washington.Araghchi also met his Saudi counterpart on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly as Iranian officials held talks with representatives of countries involved in the wider regional conflict.Saudi Arabia has previously supported a return to negotiations and, according to the person familiar with the matter, had been open to an arrangement giving Iran a temporary role in managing the Strait of Hormuz.However, Saudi calculations changed after the Houthis seized Yemen’s strategic Red Sea coast from pro-government forces and a vital Saudi pipeline came under attack.An earlier planned meeting of Gulf leaders in Oman to discuss an emerging Oman-Iran agreement on Hormuz was also cancelled after Saudi Arabia sought amendments to the proposed arrangement.
Iran faces internal debate over diplomacy
Iranian leaders have sought to project unity, but the latest diplomatic moves have exposed divisions over how Tehran should respond to the United States.Some hard-liners have called for continued or intensified military action to secure greater concessions from Washington and have criticised Pezeshkian and Araghchi for pursuing negotiations.Firebrand lawmaker Ebrahim Rezaei wrote on X that meeting with “the aggressor enemy” demonstrated weakness. Iran’s Assembly of Experts, the body that appoints the supreme leader, said “there is no path other than resistance.”Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, who previously served as a chief negotiator in talks with the United States, acknowledged the differences within the country’s leadership.“There is a view that speaks of war but offers no prospect or mechanism for bringing it to a powerful conclusion,” he wrote on social media. “At the opposite end is a current that makes the error of underestimating national capabilities.”He added: “The first error keeps the country in a state of permanent crisis, while the second hands national resources and dignity over to the enemy.”Araghchi said more than 5,000 people had been killed in Iran during the nearly seven-month US-Israeli war.Iran’s seven-day proposal now puts the focus on Washington’s response and whether the two sides can revive diplomacy over Hormuz and Tehran’s nuclear programme.
