Hendra Wijaya
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held talks with Qatari mediators in New York on Monday, advancing a proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, even as a senior United States official made clear that no agreement to end the war is possible unless Tehran's nuclear programme is placed on the table.
Speaking to Iranian state media after the meeting, Araghchi said the Qatari delegation would relay the ideas discussed to Washington, and he expected a final American response by Tuesday. He described the encounter as an exchange of proposals rather than a negotiation, noting that both sides put forward suggestions for how to satisfy Iran's conditions and how those conditions might be implemented.
"We talked about ideas and how to find solutions to fulfil Iran's conditions and how to implement those conditions," Araghchi said, according to the account carried by Iranian media. "They had some ideas, and we had a discussion that they will also present to the American side."
The Iranian diplomat said he would leave New York within hours rather than wait in the city for Washington's answer, adding that the Qataris "know how to get it to us" whenever a response is ready. He characterised the latest round of contacts as part of an ongoing message-exchange channel involving both Qatari and Pakistani intermediaries, which he said had taken on a more serious character since Iran formally submitted its proposal.
That proposal, unveiled on Friday at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, lays out a sequenced path out of the current confrontation. Under the Iranian plan, the United States would release frozen Iranian assets, lift sanctions and end its naval blockade of Iranian ports. Araghchi indicated those steps could be completed within four or five days, which would allow the Strait of Hormuz to reopen and negotiations on a comprehensive final agreement, including the nuclear question, to begin by the seventh day.
The White House quickly rejected the framework. President Donald Trump called the proposal "unacceptable" on Saturday, a dismissal that appeared to close off the fastest route to de-escalation and left the mediation track as the primary channel still functioning.
A US official who spoke to Al Jazeera said the indirect discussions were continuing and described them as "positive and constructive." But the official stressed that no deal would be reached unless Iran's nuclear programme is addressed, underscoring a long-standing American demand that Tehran has sought to defer until later stages of any settlement.
According to the official, Trump is prepared to relieve sanctions and release frozen Iranian funds in return for meaningful progress on nuclear issues. The official also said Iran has signalled flexibility on the nuclear file, though the two sides remain divided over the sequencing of obligations, specifically the timing of commitments and which party must move first.
The official further expressed scepticism about Iranian intentions, accusing Tehran of violating the memorandum of understanding signed in June by firing on commercial vessels in the strait. Iran rejects that account, insisting instead that Washington breached its own commitments by failing to stop Israeli attacks on Lebanon and by pursuing alternative shipping corridors through the Strait of Hormuz.
The waterway, which before the war carried roughly 20 percent of the world's oil and gas supplies, was closed by Iran shortly after the United States and Israel launched their offensive on February 28. Iranian attacks on shipping since then have sharply curtailed traffic through the channel, and oil prices have climbed above $100 a barrel, applying sustained pressure to global energy markets and consumers.
There are signs of partial adaptation. Crude exports from major Middle Eastern producers rebounded in September to 12.8 million barrels per day, the highest level since the conflict began, according to Reuters, which cited data from the maritime intelligence firm Kpler. That figure nonetheless remains far below the 18.8 million bpd exported in February, before the strait was shut.
Some vessels have used a US military-supervised route that hugs the coast of Oman, sailing at night with tracking systems switched off and transferring oil to tankers waiting outside the strait. Admiral Brad Cooper, who heads US Central Command, said on Saturday that American forces had supported 2,000 transits and more than 1 billion barrels of oil in recent months.
Washington has simultaneously imposed a blockade on Iranian ports and threatened secondary sanctions against airports and companies doing business with Iranian airlines. The United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Oman have already cancelled related flights, deepening Iran's economic isolation and complicating its efforts to keep trade moving.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Trump said US officials had also been in contact with mediators but predicted that Washington would prevail. "We're going to win," he said, adding that the conflict would conclude "pretty quickly" and that gasoline prices would fall once the United States achieved victory.
Iranian leaders responded with defiance. Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, in a message marking the Iran-Iraq War and Israel's killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in 2024, declared that the era of foreign domination had ended. He claimed that Iran's fighters and the "guardians of the Strait of Hormuz" had inflicted painful blows on the enemy, deterring it from venturing beyond the Arabian Sea, and predicted that the Arabian Sea too would soon be cleared of foreign presence.
Major-General Ali Abdollahi, the armed forces chief of staff, warned that Iran and allied forces would deliver a "decisive and devastating response" to any threat against the country. Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, meanwhile, insisted that the Strait of Hormuz remains closed and said Iranian forces stand ready to prevent enemy forces from entering the country.
With the nuclear question now firmly attached to any settlement, the coming days will test whether the Qatari channel can bridge the gap between Washington's insistence on addressing Tehran's atomic programme and Iran's demand for sanctions relief and unfrozen assets as a first step.
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