Iran offers seven-day plan to reopen Strait of Hormuz; Washington says it is in no rush
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says Tehran has handed the US a proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within a week and resume nuclear talks if conditions from June's memorandum are met, but a US official said Washington was not in a hurry to respond.
The offer
Speaking on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran has submitted a proposal to the US that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz within a week. According to the BBC, Araghchi told this to reporters, and the plan was delivered to Washington via Qatar. Euronews, citing the Associated Press, reports that Araghchi outlined the plan at a private gathering during the UNGA and that it was passed on through intermediaries.
Araghchi said that if conditions are met, "normal maritime passage" through the strait would be restored within seven days. Euronews adds that the proposal also includes resuming nuclear talks if the US lifts its naval blockade, waives oil sanctions, and observes a ceasefire that extends to Lebanon. According to Araghchi, the conditions mirror those already contained in the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed on 18 June, which envisaged a ceasefire, partial reopening of the strait, and a commitment that Iran would never build a nuclear weapon.
US response
A US official told the BBC that positive discussions were under way through mediators, including on nuclear issues, but added that the US "is in a very strong position with control of the Strait of Hormuz, so we are not in a rush." President Donald Trump this week threatened to "annihilate the Islamic Republic," though in his UN speech he suggested a deal might come only after November's Congressional elections.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told CBS News that the ceasefire process would begin the day the US accepts it, and that Iran would allow UN nuclear inspectors into the country, while rejecting claims that Iran is trying to build a nuclear weapon.
Background and impact on oil markets
The war began on 28 February when the US and Israel launched air strikes on Iran; Iran retaliated by striking Israel and US bases in the Gulf and by blocking the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20% of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas passed before the war. The closure triggered sharp swings in energy prices; Euronews notes that news of renewed talks pushed Brent crude down to $105 a barrel.
Analytics firm Kpler, cited by the BBC via Reuters, says the recent ten-day average was about 18 transits per day through the strait, dropping as low as nine on some days. Meanwhile, Iran-allied Houthi forces in Yemen have stepped up attacks disrupting Saudi oil exports via the Red Sea and have seized the port of Mokha; on Saturday the Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted two Houthi ballistic missiles and drones.
On Friday, Araghchi said Iran does not accept "coercion, threats or intimidation" and that "peace cannot be built through threats of annihilation." Euronews also reports that Araghchi met UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband and accused "certain European nations" of complicity in US and Israeli military aggression, while Danny Citrinowicz, a former head of Israeli military intelligence research, said Tehran sees a political opening in Washington but that this should not be mistaken for a "strategic retreat."
