Iran proposes to reopen Strait of Hormuz in seven days

This photograph shows the Iranian-flagged cargo ship Nora Bandar Abbas docked at the port of Umm Qasr in southern Iraq on September 17, 2026. — AFP pic

First Published: Friday, 25 Sep 2026 5:12 PM MYT

NEW YORK, Sept 25 — Iran has submitted a proposal to the United States to end their war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days, its foreign minister told media outlets in New York.

“If certain conditions are met, the strait will be open within seven days and talks will start,” Abbas Araghchi, who is in the US for the UN General Assembly, told media outlets including the *New York Times* and *The Guardian*.

Japanese news agency Kyodo was the first to report the proposal, citing a senior Iranian official on Tuesday.

Iranian media, however, denied the Kyodo report, while authorities in Tehran have not clarified their position.

Araghchi also held talks on Tuesday with US President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff.

Iran has previously set out seven conditions for ending the war and reopening the strait.

According to Araghchi, as quoted by the *New York Times*, the latest plan calls for a seven-day cessation of hostilities across the Middle East, including in Lebanon.

It also calls for the release of frozen Iranian assets estimated at at least US$12 billion (RM48.9 billion), the lifting of sanctions on Iranian oil and an end to the US naval blockade of Iran.

Iran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz on the seventh day of the truce.

Araghchi said he was awaiting a US response and maintained that China supported the proposal.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is visiting the United States this week for talks with Trump.

Hossein Mohebi, a spokesman for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, told AFP on Tuesday that ending hostilities in Yemen was also among Tehran’s demands.

The US and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding in June aimed at ending the war, reopening the strait and launching talks on Iran’s nuclear programme, but the agreement broke down shortly afterwards after Iran fired on commercial ships it accused of deviating from its approved route through Hormuz.

Iran requires ships to obtain authorisation before passage, citing security and sovereignty concerns, while vessels that refuse to comply have been targeted and the United States has sporadically bombed Iranian coastal areas in retaliation. — AFP