UNITED NATIONS | Iran has proposed a seven-day plan that could reopen the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz and halt fighting across the region if the United States meets Tehran’s conditions, putting diplomacy at the center of efforts to ease a conflict that has severely disrupted one of the world’s most important energy shipping routes.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Friday that the waterway could return to normal maritime passage within seven days if Washington takes the required steps. The proposal was presented during the United Nations General Assembly in New York and transmitted to U.S. officials through Qatari mediators, according to Reuters.
Under the proposal, Iran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz following a seven-day period during which hostilities would be halted across the region, including in Lebanon. In return, Tehran says Washington would need to lift its naval blockade of Iranian ports, release frozen Iranian funds and waive oil sanctions. Araqchi said the conditions were already contained in a memorandum of understanding reached between the two countries in June.
Iran has also indicated that the proposal could lead to broader negotiations, including discussions concerning its nuclear program. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran was seeking an agreement rather than war, while maintaining that Iran would not accept negotiations conducted under what it considers coercive conditions.
U.S. President Donald Trump, however, said Saturday that he had rejected the Iranian proposal. Reuters reported that Trump had been skeptical that Tehran would meet his demands, while U.S. officials continued to discuss the matter through intermediaries.
Iranian officials said Sunday that Tehran had not yet received a formal rejection through the mediators handling the discussions. Araqchi said Iran was waiting for the United States’ definitive position before deciding how to proceed and reiterated that diplomacy remained the way to resolve the deadlock.
The diplomatic developments came as Iran’s military signaled that it was prepared for a possible renewal of U.S. attacks. Iranian army spokesperson Mohammad Akraminia said the armed forces were ready for another confrontation and warned that any renewed U.S. strike would bring greater damage, according to Iranian state media and Reuters.
The Strait of Hormuz is central to the dispute because it connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and Arabian Sea and carries a substantial share of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas shipments. Before the current conflict, about 125 large commercial vessels crossed the waterway each day, according to shipping data cited by Reuters. Traffic has since fallen sharply.
The strategic importance of Hormuz has made the waterway a recurring flashpoint in Middle Eastern conflicts. Its narrow passage provides a major maritime outlet for energy exporters including Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, while Asian economies remain major destinations for shipments passing through the strait.
The current conflict began on February 28 with U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran, according to Reuters, and has since disrupted regional shipping and energy flows. Earlier in September, Iranian officials signaled that Tehran could reopen the strait within a week if Washington reduced military pressure and lifted its blockade, before the proposal was formally outlined at the United Nations.
For now, Iran says the seven-day roadmap remains on the table while its military prepares for a possible renewed confrontation. Whether Washington accepts Tehran’s conditions remains unresolved, leaving the Strait of Hormuz at the center of both the diplomatic effort and the wider regional crisis.
Edgardo Hernal started college at UP Diliman and received his BA in Economics from San Sebastian College, Manila, and Masters in Information Systems Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Oak Brook, IL. He has 25 years of copy editing and management experience at Thomson West, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters.
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