Iran pitches seven-day peace plan to sceptical US administration Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the deal would trigger a seven-day countdown to reopening the strait and a pause in regional fighting.…
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Iran pitches seven-day peace plan to sceptical US administration Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the deal would trigger a seven-day countdown to reopening the strait and a pause in regional fighting. Saturday 26/09/2026 Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, holds a press conference during the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), at UN headquarters in New York City, US, September 25, 2026. UNITED NATIONS/ WASHINGTON Iran said on Saturday it awaited an official US response to its proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end fighting in the wider Middle East war after the Wall Street Journal reported that US President Donald Trump had rejected the deal. Iran raised the diplomatic initiative at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, saying it had been transmitted to the Americans via Qatari mediators and could reopen the strategic waterway and put an end to hostilities in the region within seven days. The Iranians also engaged their Saudi rivals regarding the strait, underscoring the stakes of a seven-month-old conflict that has disrupted oil flows through one of the world’s most critical shipping lanes and taken a toll on the global economy. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters at the United Nations on Friday the deal would trigger a seven-day countdown to reopening the strait and a pause in regional fighting. “If there is seriousness on the US side to come to a deal and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, everything is now prepared,” Araghchi said. If the US were to agree, the warring parties could start wider talks “on mutually agreed subjects,” Araghchi said. That could potentially include discussions of Iran’s nuclear programme. Trump has vowed that Tehran will never acquire a nuclear bomb, while a senior Iranian official told Reuters that Iran will show no flexibility over its nuclear programme even if the United States accepts its peace deal. Iran would grant no concessions over its rights, including enriching uranium or shipping its highly enriched uranium out of the country, the official said. Even so, Iran had put forward a plan that would halt hostilities on all fronts, including Lebanon. The plan in turn would require the United States to lift its blockade on Iranian ports, release Iran’s frozen funds, and waive its oil sanctions, Araghchi said. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in an interview with broadcaster CBS that the ceasefire “process will begin from the very day they accept it.” “We had previously reached an agreement based on the MOU that was signed in Pakistan…if the United States agrees to proceed in that way, everything will return to the way it was before,” he added. A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, had previously called discussions through mediators “positive and constructive.” But Trump was privately sceptical that Iran would meet his demands, the Journal report said, and he told his staff that he sees a renewed bombing campaign as likely. Previous attempts at diplomacy have failed to end the war, which began on February 28 with US and Israeli attacks. Since then the war has alternated between pauses and renewed strikes, killing thousands while degrading Iran’s conventional forces and damaging Iran’s already ailing economy. Iran and its allies have retaliated by extending the conflict throughout the region. Iran, which controls the strait along with Oman, has struck US allies in the Gulf with drones and missiles while its Houthi allies in Yemen have targeted Saudi interests. Iranian-aligned militias in Iraq were blamed for a pipeline attack that temporarily took more Saudi oil off the market. All the while, Iranian-backed Hezbollah has been engaged with Israeli forces in Lebanon. Araghchi briefed his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan on the understanding between Iran and Oman regarding safe shipping routes in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s foreign ministry said early Saturday. The war’s widening toll has also united Saudi Arabia’s allies to shore up the kingdom’s defences. The Saudi-backed, internationally recognised Yemeni government has come under assault from Iran-linked Houthi fighters, with Houthi missiles striking inside the kingdom. Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araqchi, addresses the media at a press conference during the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), at UN headquarters in New York City, US, September 25, 2026.
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