Iran pitches 7-day plan to restart US talks, reopen Strait of Hormuz

Iran briefed the United States on a seven-day plan intended to halt fighting between the two countries, lift the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and reopen negotiations toward a final peace accord, Tehran’s foreign minister said on Thursday at the U.N. General Assembly. Abbas Araghchi told reporters the proposal was transmitted to Washington via intermediaries and would see the strait reopened on the seventh day if specific U.S. conditions were met.

Araghchi said the terms closely mirror commitments in a 14-point memorandum of understanding reached in June, which collapsed after a resurgence of hostilities in July. Unlike that MOU, which envisaged a 60-day period to resume nuclear talks, the new plan compresses the timeline to a single week and would begin as soon as the Trump administration agreed to its conditions.

According to Araghchi and reporting in The New York Times, the package calls for an immediate end to hostilities in Iran and Lebanon during the seven-day window, Washington’s release of billions in frozen Iranian funds, a waiver of oil sanctions, and the lifting of the U.S. naval blockade. Only on the final day would Iran reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and the two sides would commence comprehensive negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program thereafter.

A U.S. official told The New York Times that Washington is engaged in constructive discussions through intermediaries but is not prepared to rush into an agreement. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has also said Tehran would be willing to strike a deal before the November midterm elections, responding to President Trump’s public threats and comments on the conflict. The prolonged fighting and the strait’s closure have strained global energy markets and contributed to higher energy and food prices, according to reporting on the conflict’s economic effects.