Araghchi says Tehran handed Washington a seven-day Hormuz plan through Qatar

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the General Assembly on Thursday 24 September, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran had passed the United States a proposal that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz at the end of a seven-day countdown and restart bilateral talks. “Iran has conveyed to the United States, through Qatar, a concrete seven-day plan,” he said, adding that “the moment they accept this plan, from the next day, this timetable can start.” To IranWire he put it more plainly: “We have delivered a plan to the United States through intermediaries.” No text was published. The conditions are therefore reported, not documentary: the Sinclair/TNND account lists easing military pressure, lifting the naval blockade of Iranian ports and waiving sanctions on Iranian oil sales; IranWire’s fuller version adds halting operations on fronts including Lebanon, safe passage for commercial vessels, negotiations on sanctions relief and the unfreezing of blocked assets. Araghchi said the package resembles the 17 June memorandum of understanding that briefly calmed the conflict before collapsing.

Washington’s answer went around the offer rather than through it. Deputy State Department spokesperson Luke Ortega said the strait is currently open — the position the administration has held since August. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, addressing the Qatar-mediated meeting on Tuesday at which Araghchi saw envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, said it would be wrong to call it a major breakthrough. The White House has not confirmed acceptance of the proposal. Patrick O’Hare of Briefing.com told CBS News it is “a dubious offer considering Iran hasn’t changed its conditions from before.” The two capitals are also publicly at odds over timing: President Masoud Pezeshkian told journalists on Thursday that Tehran wants a deal before November’s US midterms, contradicting Trump’s claim that Iran would only move after the vote, while Araghchi said Iran prefers an agreement before the midterms but is in no rush. Pezeshkian told Fox News this week: “We’re seeking an agreement if the counterpart agrees to it.”

Assessment: The tell is the shape of the American reply. To say the strait is open is to deny that Iran holds the asset it is offering to return — which forecloses the trade without rejecting it, and costs nothing until tanker data forces the issue. Treat the condition list with care: two versions circulated on Friday, both second-hand, and the longer one conveniently bundles Lebanon into a maritime file. One structural change is worth more than the choreography. Pakistan brokered the June memorandum; Qatar is carrying this one, and Doha has now put its own foreign minister’s call with Pezeshkian on the record. Brokers do not change for nothing.