Iran proposes a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in 7 days if the US
meets its conditions
[September 26, 2026]
By CARA ANNA, FARNOUSH AMIRI and AAMER MADHANI
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Iran has offered to reopen the Strait of Hormuz
and resume talks on its nuclear program in seven days if the United
States lifts its naval blockade of Iranian ports, waives sanctions on
Iranian oil sales and observes a ceasefire that would include Lebanon.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi detailed the proposal to
reporters outside the U.N. Security Council on Friday, saying it would
also restart stalled talks with the U.S. on Iran's nuclear program.
“The seven-day timeline will start as soon as the United States accepts
this plan,” he said.
Araghchi said initial steps would take about four to five days to
complete, and the strait would be open on the sixth day. “And on day
seven, the talks with the U.S. will be started for the final deal on
mutually agreed subjects,” he said, referring to the nuclear program.
Iran's disruption of the strait — through which a fifth of the world's
traded oil and gas transited before the war — has emerged as its main
point of leverage. The effects have been felt far beyond the Middle East
and posed political problems for President Donald Trump and his
Republican Party ahead of November's midterm congressional elections.
The White House said only that U.S. officials are having positive and
constructive conversations with mediators on the Iran war. In response
to questions, it said the U.S. is facilitating significant oil exports
through the Strait of Hormuz.
There was no immediate comment on the proposal from Gulf Arab nations,
although a person familiar with the matter, speaking on condition of
anonymity to discuss private deliberations, told The Associated Press
that Saudi Arabia was skeptical of the latest push for a deal.
The proposal resembles a June deal that quickly crumbled
The proposal, conveyed to the U.S. by Qatar, strongly resembles an
interim deal reached in June, but with an accelerated timetable. The
earlier agreement, which called for a 60-day interim period, quickly
collapsed as Iran resumed attacks on shipping in the strait.
Trump has said he is in no rush to reach a deal, even as high oil prices
fuel inflation. On the Iranian side, there are questions as to whether
the hard-liners who dominate the security forces would accept
compromises championed by moderates like President Masoud Pezeshkian.
“If Trump calculates this arrangement is worthwhile and can bring
political benefit before the midterms and reduce gas prices, perhaps
we'll see flexibility not seen in previous weeks,” said Trita Parsi,
executive vice president of the Quincy Institute think tank.
But he noted “deep suspicion,” especially around the prospect of Iran
merely buying time to ship out more of its oil and ease its economic
pain.
There are other signs of renewed diplomacy
In the latest sign of diplomatic movement, Pezeshkian hosted the prime
minister of Qatar early Friday. Qatar has been a key mediator, including
during indirect Iran-U.S. talks at the U.N. this week.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that “if there’s an
opportunity to exchange ideas and messages, we will.”
After multiple failed attempts at a deal, however, suspicion is high on
both sides. The U.S. and Israel have attacked Iran twice while it was
engaged in nuclear talks, and the U.S. and Iran accuse each other of
having swiftly violated the June agreement.
“The Iranians already know that the chances of this not being accepted
by Trump are much higher than the opposite,” Hamidreza Azizi, senior
Iran analyst at the International Crisis Group think tank, wrote on X.
“They want to show that they were ready for diplomacy and that it was
the United States that, for the third time, decided to attack in the
middle of a diplomatic track — something that people within (Iran’s)
strategic community have been anticipating over the past few days,” he
said.
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Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrives ahead of the 81st
session of the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations
headquarters, Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)
Araghchi said Friday that more than 5,000 people in Iran have been
killed in the nearly seven-month U.S.-Israeli war.
It's unclear if the proposal would include the Yemen conflict
The proposal would include Lebanon, where Israel and the Iran-backed
Hezbollah have been mostly observing a ceasefire. It's not clear,
however, if it would include the revived conflict between Yemen's
Iran-backed Houthi rebels and Saudi Arabia, which has put even more
pressure on global markets.
Iran appears to think the Houthis' newly enhanced ability to
threaten the Bab el-Mandeb strait on the Red Sea — another trade
chokepoint on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula — could push
Trump to make a deal.
Araghchi met with his Saudi counterpart on the sidelines of the U.N.
General Assembly, as he and other Iranian officials held meetings
that included representatives from other countries that Tehran has
exchanged military strikes with over the last year.
With the Houthis' latest surge in attacks, Saudi Arabia was
skeptical of Araghchi’s latest push for a deal with the U.S.,
according to the person familiar with the matter.
The kingdom, along with other Gulf states, had advocated over the
summer for a return to negotiations, saying they could live with an
agreement that gave Iran a temporary role in managing the Strait of
Hormuz, the person said.
But the Saudi calculations changed as the Houthis seized Yemen’s
strategic Red Sea coast from pro-government forces and a vital Saudi
pipeline came under attack.
Earlier this month, Gulf leaders planned to gather in Oman to
discuss an emerging agreement between Oman and Iran on the Strait of
Hormuz, which runs between the two countries. But the meeting was
canceled after Saudi Arabia called for amendments, only some of
which were accepted by Iran, the person said.
Iran's leadership has shown signs of divisions
Iran's leaders have sought to project unity, but some hard-liners
want to continue or escalate the war to secure bigger U.S.
concessions and have criticized Pezeshkian and Araghchi's diplomatic
steps this week.
Firebrand lawmaker Ebrahim Rezaei wrote on X that merely meeting
with “the aggressor enemy” showed weakness. Iran’s Assembly of
Experts, a panel of Shiite clerics who appoint the supreme leader,
said “there is no path other than resistance.”
Iran's parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, who served as
chief negotiator in earlier U.S. talks, provided a rare public
acknowledgment of the internal divide.
“There is a view that speaks of war but offers no prospect or
mechanism for bringing it to a powerful conclusion,” he wrote on
social media. “At the opposite end is a current that makes the error
of underestimating national capabilities.”
He added: “The first error keeps the country in a state of permanent
crisis, while the second hands national resources and dignity over
to the enemy.”
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Associated Press reporters Josh Boak and Matthew Lee in Washington
contributed.
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