US expected to reply Tuesday to Iran’s proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he expected a formal response from the United States on Tuesday to Tehran’s proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, state media reported.

Qatar mediating talks

Araghchi said Qatari intermediaries “presented ideas, and we discussed them; they are set to raise the matter with the American side once more, after which the final US response will be conveyed to us,” and that the Qataris “hope this will be done by tomorrow.”

Conditions for reopening

He said the reopening of the strait is “contingent upon the fulfilment of certain conditions that we have communicated to the other side.” The precise conditions were not detailed in the report.

Preconditions Iran has put forward

• As a precondition for ending its blockade, Iran is demanding a seven-day ceasefire across the Middle East, including in Lebanon where its ally Hezbollah has been battling Israeli forces.
• Iran is also demanding the unfreezing of Iranian assets abroad, the lifting of sanctions on its oil sector, and an end to the US naval blockade.

Context of the blockade

The report notes the Strait of Hormuz lies at the heart of the conflict between the United States and Iran, which began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran in late February. Before the war began, the shipping route carried a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas.

After the war started, the report says Tehran imposed a blockade on Hormuz, and Washington responded with its own blockade on Iranian ports.

Diplomatic exchanges

Last week, discussions were held in New York between Araghchi and US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Araghchi was in New York for the UN General Assembly when he made the comments.

What happens next

According to the report, Qatari intermediaries will raise their proposals with the American side again, and Iran expects the final US response to be conveyed to Tehran on Tuesday.

“The current focus is solely on the Strait of Hormuz, and the reopening of the strait is contingent upon the fulfilment of certain conditions that we have communicated to the other side,” Araghchi said.