Iran offers US 7-day plan to end war, reopen Strait of Hormuz

The Strait of Hormuz has emerged as a central bargaining point in efforts to end the conflict

Iran has offered the United States a seven-day plan to end the nearly seven-month war in West Asia, with Tehran proposing that the Strait of Hormuz be reopened by the end of the seventh day if certain conditions are met, The New York Times reported.Under the proposal, Iran would reopen the strategic waterway and the US and Iran would restart comprehensive negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear programme. Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said the proposal had been conveyed to Washington through intermediaries and was similar to a memorandum of understanding reached by the two sides in June.“We have introduced a plan to the United States through the intermediators that if certain conditions are met, the Strait of Hormuz would be open on the end of the seventh day and talks would restart...it

would be better, if a deal was reached before the U.S. midterm elections,” Araghchi told reporters at the United Nations General Assembly, according to the report.The proposal comes as both sides remain publicly committed to diplomacy but sharply divided over the terms of any settlement. US President Donald Trump has threatened to “annihilate” Iran if no agreement is reached, while also indicating that a deal could be possible.

Tehran seeks phased route out of war

The Strait of Hormuz has emerged as a central bargaining point in efforts to end the conflict. Reuters, citing Iranian, regional and Western diplomatic sources, reported that negotiators in New York were exploring a phased arrangement under which Iran would reopen the waterway in return for the US lifting its economic blockade.A senior Iranian official said a possible arrangement could begin with an end to the US blockade and the reopening of Hormuz, followed potentially by access to frozen Iranian assets.

The sources said the main difficulty was that neither side wanted to surrender its leverage first.The negotiations also face the challenge of ensuring that any agreement is durable enough to prevent a repeat of an earlier understanding that collapsed in July. Trump has said he believes a deal could potentially be reached after the November 3 US midterm elections.A White House official, however, said Trump remained open to talks only “under the right circumstances”, while arguing that Washington was in a strong negotiating position because of the pressure on Iran's economy and the situation around Hormuz.