A “concrete” plan for opening the strait has been presented, explains Iran’s Foreign Minister Araghchi. However, according to a report, the US President thinks little of it.
Iran says it has presented the US with a “concrete” seven-day plan to open the strategically important Strait of Hormuz. Now the decision rests with the USA, said Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to journalists at the United Nations in New York. The steps that the USA must take are not new. “They are all already in the memorandum of understanding,” he said, referring to the memorandum of understanding that Iran and the United States agreed to in June.
However, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing US government circles, that Trump rejected the Iranian plan. The president has told his advisers that he expects to resume air strikes on targets in Iran after the US general election in early November, it said. Trump also published a map graphic on his Truth Social platform with the Strait of Hormuz circled. Below it says: Trump Strait.
A US government representative had previously described the indirect talks as “positive and constructive”. In return for a ceasefire on all fronts, Araghchi said, Iran demanded the lifting of the US blockade of Iranian ports, the release of frozen funds and an end to oil sanctions.
According to Araghtschi, if the US government does agree, more comprehensive discussions could begin. However, according to the Reuters news agency, an insider said that Tehran would not compromise on its own nuclear program and would insist on uranium enrichment in the country. Meanwhile, China also intervened in the conflict: President Xi Jinping urged Trump to return to the memorandum of understanding agreed in June, whereupon Trump warned Beijing not to support Tehran.
The UN Security Council has taken a clear stance against the Houthi militia's attacks on Saudi Arabia. The most powerful body in the United Nations unanimously condemned the actions “in the strongest possible terms,” said a joint statement by the 15 states, which was presented by the French UN Ambassador Jérôme Bonnafont in New York. Civilians were also injured in the attacks.
In Yemen, the civil war that has been going on for more than ten years has flared up again in the last few weeks. The Iran-backed Houthi militia quickly took over large areas on the west coast of the Red Sea and on the Bab al-Mandab Strait. Since then, government troops and allied militias supported by Saudi Arabia have been fighting again in several parts of the country. Saudi Arabia is also coming under attack from the Houthis again.
The Saudi-led military coalition says it intercepted two Yemeni Houthi militia drones aimed at the capital Riyadh. On Platform X, the alliance said it was monitoring further threats from missiles and drones. Saudi Civil Defense initially issued warnings overnight for the cities of Khamis Mushait and Abha, but not for Riyadh.
The attack is also likely to have symbolic meaning: the Shiite militia allied with Iran is once again signaling that it can also attack the Sunni kingdom's center of power. As the crow flies, Riyadh is around 850 kilometers from the border with the Houthi areas in western Yemen. Just on Thursday, the military said it intercepted six Houthi ballistic missiles. Around ten days ago, the Saudi military alliance also reported a Houthi drone attack on the holy city of Mecca for Muslims. A Houthi representative rejected this accusation.
According to media reports, Iran has presented the USA with a new proposal to resume negotiations on a possible end to the war. A plan was presented to the US government through intermediaries that would allow the Strait of Hormuz to be reopened after seven days if certain conditions were met, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told journalists on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, according to the New York Times and the Financial Times.
To help supply the world market with oil from Saudi Arabia, France's military will protect a key oil terminal in the kingdom on the Red Sea. For this purpose, soldiers, radar systems and defense systems would be sent to the port city of Yanbu, said French President Emmanuel Macron to the channels TF1 and France 2. The talks with Saudi Arabia were concluded today, he said in the interview published on Thursday evening.
After attacks by the Yemeni Houthi militia on Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are planning an emergency meeting of their chiefs of general staff. The Saudi Foreign Ministry said that options for supporting the government in Riyadh should be discussed within the framework of a joint defense agreement.
Iranian President Massoud Peseschkian has declared his fundamental willingness to hand over the highly enriched uranium in his country's possession. When asked whether Iran was ready to do this, he told US broadcaster Fox News: "Yes, within the framework of international law, on the basis of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, we will abide by everything we are obliged to do."
According to Iranian President Massoud Peseschkian, the USA must decide whether to end the war with Iran. In an interview with US television channel Fox News, when asked about a possible end to the war later this year, he said: “It is America that has to decide whether it wants to end this or not.”
The government of Yemen is calling on the international community to provide greater support in the fight against the Houthi militia. Yemen is capable of ending the militia threat and protecting its ports and territorial waters, said Abdullah al-Alimi of Yemen's Presidential Council.
Numerous country representatives left the hall at the United Nations in protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before his speech. Other delegates applauded the Israeli leader during his appearance at the UN General Assembly in New York.
An Iranian passenger plane has been forced to turn back following the announcement of new US sanctions against Iran's aviation sector. Since Turkmenistan had not granted Iranian airlines permission to fly over its airspace, the Tehran-Dushanbe flight could not land at its destination.
EU Council President Antonio Costa says he is calling on Iran to resume cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In a conversation with Iranian President Massoud Peseschkian, he also spoke out in favor of an end to Iranian attacks on neighboring countries.
According to delegation circles, Federal Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul called on his Iranian colleague Abbas Aragtschi to negotiate at a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. Iran must “participate seriously and credibly in sustainable negotiations with the USA and neighboring states in the region”.
