President Donald Trump has rejected an Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and halt fighting across the wider Middle East war within seven days, according to the Wall Street Journal, leaving Tehran awaiting an official response from Washington.
The proposal was conveyed through mediators and would require the US to lift its blockade on Iranian ports, release Iran's frozen funds and waive oil sanctions. In return, Tehran would reopen the strait and hostilities would end on all fronts, including Lebanon.
Trump has also told aides that he expects to resume bombing Iranian targets after the November midterm elections, the Journal reported. The newspaper said he was privately sceptical that Iran would meet his demands.
Iranian officials have continued to present the proposal as a route towards a negotiated settlement. A senior Iranian official said Tehran could reopen the Strait of Hormuz to Gulf shipping within seven days if its demands were met.
Abbas Araqchi, Iran's foreign minister, said at the United Nations on Friday that Iran had sent its plan to the US through Qatari mediators. He told reporters: 'If there is seriousness on the US side to come to a deal and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, everything is now prepared'
The proposal has emerged alongside the first known indirect talks between the two countries since a ceasefire collapsed in July. Araqchi and US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner communicated through mediators on Tuesday, in a two-hour exchange of messages between Iranian and US officials facilitated by a Qatari mediator.
Those contacts have yet to resolve the central dispute over the waterway. Washington rejects Iranian control over the strait and says it must remain fully open to international shipping. Iran's proposal ties its reopening to US action on ports, frozen funds and oil sanctions.
A senior Iranian official said: 'There are still many differences between the Iranian and US positions, but diplomacy is continuing'
The diplomatic exchanges have taken place amid increasingly hostile public statements. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian accused Trump of a 'bullying mentality' at the United Nations on Wednesday, September 23. He said Iran would not surrender in the war with the US, while remaining open to diplomacy to end the conflict.
Trump threatened to 'annihilate' Iran at the UN forum on Tuesday. The conflict began on February 28 with US and Israeli strikes, and has since developed into a wider regional confrontation centred in part on access through the Strait of Hormuz.
It remains unclear whether Trump will reconsider the Iranian offer or what terms Washington would accept for a settlement. Iran had received no official US response to its latest proposal as of Saturday, even as both sides continued indirect contact through Qatar.
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