The choice to reopen the Strait of Hormuz “rests with the United States,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Friday, indicating shipping through the critical waterway could resume within days once a deal is reached. There are certain actions to be taken by the United States. And we believe that these actions can be taken in four or five days.” Iran offers new proposal to reopen Strait of Hormuz Araghchi said that the actions required by the U.S. in their proposal were already agreed to in the June Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries that laid out plans for a temporary ceasefire.
That agreement, signed in June, collapsed within days after fresh strikes were exchanged. One of the conditions of the plan is for the U.S. to accept a maritime transit route through the Strait of Hormuz that has been agreed upon by Iran and Oman, Araghchi said Thursday. A U.S. official said the Trump Administration is having positive and constructive discussions through the mediators but that they were not in any hurry to reach an agreement.
In an interview with Al Jazeera on Saturday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said that resolving the Hormuz issue “is possible through negotiations, not the use of force,” but warned that his country does not “trust” talks with Washington. Trump has repeatedly said that the goal of attacking Iran was to prevent the development of a nuclear weapon. Soon after the war started, Iran blocked the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway through which some 20% of the world’s oil flowed before the conflict, sending shock waves through the world economy.
Polls show Democrats with an advantage heading into the November contests. The latest NBC News Decision Desk Poll found 31% of respondents approved of Trump’s handling of the Iran war, while 69% disapproved. Pezeshkian on Thursday suggested his government was willing to make a deal with the U.S. to end the war before Americans head to the polls this November.
Iraq said Saturday that it was engaging with the U.S. in an effort to restore humanitarian flights to and from Iran, after Iranian airlines were barred from neighboring countries in response to the sanctions. Efforts were ongoing to “secure exemptions for certain Iraqi airports from these measures” in order to enable “the resumption of flights for humanitarian reasons, such as medical treatment, education, religious pilgrimages, and the interests of civilians,” the Iraqi prime minister’s office said. Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported that flights had also been shut down to Oman, Georgia and Azerbaijan.
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