Key Takeaways
- Iran offered a seven-day plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz but was rejected by US President Donald Trump.
- Trump claims the US has imposed the 'greatest blockade in military history' on Iran.
- Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with US envoy Steve Witkoff to discuss the proposal.
Iran offered a seven-day plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping channel, but US President Donald Trump rejected the proposal, according to reports.
The waterway is central to the ongoing conflict between the United States and Iran, which has been at a stalemate for nearly seven months.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with US envoy Steve Witkoff on Tuesday to discuss the proposal, which included conditions for ending the war and reopening the vital shipping channel.
Araghchi stated, 'Iran has conveyed to the United States, through Qatar, a concrete seven-day plan. If the necessary conditions are met, the strait can be reopened, and normal maritime passage restored within seven days.'
However, Trump told reporters at the White House, 'They (Iran) made a proposal, but I rejected it.'
Trump added, 'They want to make a deal where they open the Strait immediately because they’re losing so badly. They want to make a deal and I think that’s fine. I like making a deal too.'
The US president also claimed that Iran was facing financial pressure, stating, 'They got themselves into a bind; we have established the greatest blockade in military history — it’s a wall of steel. And now they have no money because they wanted to close the strait.'
Earlier media reports suggested the new plan called for a cessation of all hostilities in the Middle East for seven days, including in Lebanon, and the release of frozen Iranian assets estimated to be worth at least $12 billion, as well as the lifting of sanctions on Iranian oil and an end to the US naval blockade of Iran.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in an interview with broadcaster CBS that the ceasefire 'process will begin from the very day they accept it.'
Hossein Mohebi, a spokesman for the Revolutionary Guards, told AFP that Iran would reopen Hormuz on the seventh day of the truce if the US agrees to proceed in that way.
They (Iran) made a proposal, but I rejected it.
Donald Trump, US President
Iran has conveyed to the United States, through Qatar, a concrete seven-day plan. If the necessary conditions are met, the strait can be reopened, and normal maritime passage restored within seven days.
Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s Foreign Minister
They got themselves into a bind; we have established the greatest blockade in military history — it’s a wall of steel. And now they have no money because they wanted to close the strait.
Donald Trump, US President
