Iran says Strait of Hormuz could reopen within two days under plan agreed with Qatari mediators, if US meets its conditions
Iran’s foreign minister says Tehran has reached a plan with Qatari mediators that could fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz within two days, provided the United States meets Iran’s conditions.
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has said Tehran has reached a plan with Qatari mediators that could fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz within two days, provided the United States meets Iran’s conditions. He set out the proposal in an interview with Al Jazeera on Saturday, in the most specific account yet of a possible timetable for restoring normal passage through the waterway.
Araghchi said Qatar had first proposed cutting the time needed to carry out Iran’s reopening proposal to five days, and that further talks between the two sides had shortened the period to two days. The plan, as he described it, is therefore a staged implementation that could be completed quickly once the political conditions are agreed, rather than a gradual reopening over weeks.
Tehran’s conditions, according to Araghchi, include lifting the sanctions imposed on Iran after the Islamabad memorandum of understanding, restoring waivers for Iranian oil exports, releasing frozen Iranian assets, and reducing the number of United States forces in the region. He said reopening the strait in line with those conditions would pave the way for renewed negotiations with Washington on outstanding issues.
The proposal also touches on how shipping would use the strait. CGTN’s account of Araghchi’s remarks said Tehran wants Washington to recognise a new shipping route developed with Oman, while other routes through the strait would be closed. That detail matters because Iran has insisted in recent weeks that vessels use a designated route and coordinate passage with its armed forces, labelling a southern corridor closer to Oman’s shores as unauthorised.
Araghchi was careful, however, to play down suggestions of an imminent breakthrough with Washington itself. He said Iran had no current plans for a meeting with US officials and dismissed reports of such a meeting as media speculation, while describing a recent American effort to reopen dialogue as a positive step. Tehran would decide whether to hold direct or indirect talks only after Washington agreed to its conditions, he said.
The proposal emerged from a round of mediation that has intensified over the weekend. Iranian negotiators met Qatari mediators in Doha on Saturday, following more than 12 hours of discussions between Iranian and Qatari envoys in Tehran on Friday, according to a source briefed on the negotiations cited by Reuters. An Iranian delegation has also travelled to Qatar to continue consultations with Qatari and Pakistani mediators.
The diplomatic track follows a letter from US Vice President JD Vance to Iran’s security chief, Mohsen Rezaei, delivered through Qatari mediators and reported earlier in the week. The letter was understood to be an attempt to revive negotiations and avert further US strikes, although neither side has published its contents, and Tehran has not confirmed that it amounts to a formal offer.
The stakes are high because the Strait of Hormuz normally carries about a fifth of global oil consumption, and its restriction since the war began in late February has disrupted Gulf exports, pushed up oil prices and forced shipping onto longer, costlier routes. In the past week alone, Iran’s navy said a tanker caught fire after striking naval mines east of the strait, and its Revolutionary Guards said three tankers had been halted after encountering incidents or hitting mines.
At the same time, the threat of renewed fighting has not receded. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday that President Donald Trump has not decided whether to launch new strikes against Iran, but would prefer to resolve the conflict diplomatically. Trump has held off on strikes in recent weeks ahead of the US midterm elections on 3 November, but countries in the region have been anticipating that he could restart attacks once voting is over.
Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, issued a statement on Saturday ordering the armed forces to be prepared to respond to any attacks, saying any level or type of threat must be met with an immediate, impactful and geographically unrestricted response. Senior commanders had reported high readiness along the Gulf coast, in and around the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman, and on Iran’s north-western and south-eastern borders, according to the statement.
What happens next therefore depends on whether Washington accepts, rejects or seeks to renegotiate Tehran’s conditions. If it does, the two-day timetable suggests shipping could normalise quickly, easing pressure on oil markets and Gulf trade. If it does not, the proposal could stall, leaving the strait restricted and the risk of post-election strikes in place. For now, the plan remains a proposal agreed with mediators, not a reopening itself, and no formal agreement has been announced by any of the governments involved.
More in Iran
IranTrump says US could strike remaining Iran nuclear sites 'in ten minutes' after Netanyahu call, as talks continue
IranIran strikes on US bases first took out early-warning systems before hitting aircraft and buildings, AP analysis finds
Iran