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Iran offers US new seven-day proposal to end war
Iran has submitted a proposal to the United States to end their war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told media outlets in New York.
"If certain conditions are met, the strait will be open within seven days and talks will start," Abbas Araghchi, who is in the US for the UN General Assembly, told media outlets including the New York Times and The Guardian.
Japanese news agency Kyodo was the first to report the proposal, citing a senior Iranian official on Tuesday.
Araghchi said Tehran was “not in a hurry” to secure an agreement based on its new proposal. “I think it would be much better if it is done before the midterm election, but it depends on the US administration to decide. We don’t care about the timing.” “But the plan is very clear,” he added. “The moment they accept this plan, from the next day, this timetable can start, and after seven days, the strait will be open.”
According to Araghchi, as quoted by the New York Times, the latest plan calls for a cessation of all hostilities in the Middle East for seven days, including in Lebanon.
It also calls for 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.
On the seventh day of the truce, Iran would reopen Hormuz.
Araghchi said he was waiting for a US response to the plan and maintained that China supported the proposal.
The proposal seeks to implement the conditions in the Memorandum of Understanding agreed by Washington and Tehran in June.
The US and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding in June that aimed to end the war, reopen the strait and launch talks on Iran's nuclear program.
But the deal broke down shortly afterwards when the US violated its terms under the pretext of Iran’s attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
The restrictions on maritime traffic in Hormuz have become a key issue in the conflict due to the impact on oil and gas exports and the global economy.
The proposal comes as the war, started by US and Israeli strikes, is almost into its seventh month.
On Tuesday, Araghchi and US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner communicated through mediators on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, the first such contacts since the Pakistani-mediated interim ceasefire agreement collapsed in July.
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baqaei said Tehran had engaged with the US through a Qatari mediator in New York and conveyed conditions for the resumption of talks to end war between the two countries.
"Steve and Jared had a very productive meeting today with mediators of Iran, merely mediators. Let's see what happens with that," US President Donald Trump said after the meeting.
Chinese President Xi Jinping in a meeting with Trump at the White House on Thursday hoped the US and Iran will return to the track of resolving issues through dialogue and negotiation as soon as possible.
In his talks with Donald Trump at the White House, Xi said China has always believed that the sovereignty and security of all countries should be respected, and has consistently played a constructive role in easing tensions and de-escalating situation.
Xi also said China supports the United States and Iran in returning to the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding.