Iran proposes to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days under conditions

Iran has submitted a proposal to the United States to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, at the heart of the war between the two countries, within seven days, its head of diplomacy told several foreign media.

Abbas Araghchi, who is in New York for the UN General Assembly, communicated on Tuesday to the American envoy Steve Witkoff Iran's conditions for reopening the strategic passage, of which it has seriously disrupted maritime traffic since the start of the war in the Middle East.

“If certain conditions are met, the strait will be opened within seven days and talks will begin,” Abbas Araghchi told several foreign media including the New York Times and The Guardian.

On Tuesday, the Japanese news agency Kyodo, citing a senior Iranian official, was the first to report such a proposal from Tehran. However, the Iranian media denied this and, until now, no official communication on this subject has been made to clarify Tehran's position. Iran said it presented seven conditions to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

End of hostilities in Yemen

According to Abbas Araghchi, cited by the New York Times, the proposal lists the following conditions: the cessation of all hostilities in the Middle East for seven days including in Lebanon, the release of frozen Iranian assets estimated at at least 12 billion dollars, the lifting of sanctions on Iranian oil and the end of the American naval blockade against Iran.

On the seventh and final day, the Strait of Hormuz would then be reopened by Iran. Abbas Araghchi says he is waiting for a response from the United States and assures that China, whose president is on an official visit to the United States, supports this proposal.

In an exclusive interview with AFP on Tuesday, the spokesperson for the Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Mohebi, also mentioned the end of hostilities in Yemen among the Iranian conditions.

American President Donald Trump and his Iranian counterpart Massoud Pezeshkian signed a memorandum of understanding in June which aimed to end the war, reopen the Strait of Hormuz and then talks on the sensitive Iranian nuclear issue.

But the text was the subject of divergent interpretations by the two parties, fueling the resumption of hostilities in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran requires ships wanting to cross it to obtain authorization from it, citing security and sovereignty reasons. Ships that do not comply are regularly targeted by strikes, while the United States sporadically bombs the Iranian coast.