Iran awaits US reply to seven-day Hormuz plan

NEW YORK

Iran awaited an official U.S. response on Sept. 26 to its proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days, after The Wall Street Journal reported that President Donald Trump had rejected the offer.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the proposal, delivered through Qatar, required Washington to meet conditions set out in a memorandum of understanding signed in June.

“If the necessary conditions are met, the strait can be reopened, a normal maritime passage restored within seven days,” he told reporters at the United Nations in New York on Sept. 25.

“The choice now rests with the United States,” he added.

Araghchi did not detail the steps Iran wanted Washington to take, saying they were already covered by the June agreement.

The Journal, citing U.S. officials, reported that Trump had told aides he expected to resume bombing Iran after November’s midterm elections.

Earlier, a U.S. official told the BBC that discussions through mediators were positive and included nuclear issues, while saying Washington was “not in a rush.”

In a CBS News interview, President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran would allow nuclear inspectors to return, with arrangements to be negotiated.

The June 18 memorandum called for an end to military operations on all fronts, sanctions relief and the lifting of the U.S. naval blockade. It also included provisions for restoring commercial shipping through Hormuz and Iran’s commitment not to acquire nuclear weapons.

The agreement broke down after both sides resumed strikes.

The United States and Israel began strikes on Iran on Feb. 28. Tehran responded with attacks on Israel, U.S. bases and Gulf countries, while blocking Hormuz, which carried about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas before the war.

The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said on Sept. 26 that it had intercepted two ballistic missiles launched by the Iran-backed Houthis toward Khamis Mushait and two drones heading toward Riyadh.