Iran links possible Hormuz reopening to seven-day ceasefire plan

Iran has proposed a plan that could end its war with the United States and reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told media outlets in New York, according to Channels Television. Araghchi said the strait would reopen within seven days if certain conditions were met and talks began. He described a proposal involving a seven-day cessation of hostilities across the Middle East, including Lebanon, the release of at least $12 billion in frozen Iranian assets, the lifting of sanctions on Iranian oil and an end to the US naval blockade of Iran.

Under the plan, Iran would reopen Hormuz on the seventh day of the truce. Araghchi said he was awaiting a response from the United States and maintained that China supported the proposal. He had also held talks with US President Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff.

The proposal’s reported emergence has been accompanied by conflicting accounts. Japanese agency Kyodo first reported it, citing a senior Iranian official, while Iranian media denied the report. Authorities in Tehran had not clarified their position, according to the source.

Hossein Mohebi, a Revolutionary Guards spokesman, separately told AFP that ending hostilities in Yemen was also among Iran’s demands. The source says an earlier US-Iran memorandum aimed at ending the war, reopening the strait and beginning nuclear talks, but that arrangement later broke down. Iran requires ships to obtain authorisation before passing through Hormuz, citing security and sovereignty.

Ships that refuse have been targeted, while the United States has carried out sporadic strikes on Iranian coastal areas, the report says.