Iran Offers to Reopen Strait of Hormuz in Exchange for U.S. Concessions

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi Friday said his country is offering to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days and resume talks on its nuclear program in exchange for concessions from Washington.

Those would include lifting its naval blockade of Iranian ports, waiving sanctions on Iranian oil sales and a ceasefire that would include Lebanon, Araghchi told reporters on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, according to an AP report.

“The seven-day timeline will start as soon as the United States accepts this plan,” he said on Friday, adding that Iran had conveyed its offer to the U.S. through Qatar.

Although U.S. President Donald Trump has not formally responded to the proposal, he privately rejected the plan, according to a Wall Street Journal report citing U.S. officials. He is instead betting on renewed escalation including by raising the possibility of another bombing campaign on the country after the midterm elections in November, according to the same report.

Trump on Friday night shared a map of the region on Truth Social, renaming the Strait of Hormuz as the “Trump Strait.”

The Strait of Hormuz is a critical route for global oil and natural gas supplies and has been a major flashpoint since the U.S. and Israel launched their war against Iran in February.