A well-informed official said on Wednesday, 30 September 2026, that Qatar had delivered Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi the US response to the Iranian proposal known as the “seven-day proposal”, in the latest step in mediation efforts to address differences between Washington and Tehran and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran had conveyed the proposal to the US side through Qatari mediators during the United Nations General Assembly meetings in New York. Araghchi said the timetable set out in the plan would begin once the United States approved it, and that implementing the initial steps would take four or five days.
Proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and resume negotiations
According to details announced by Araghchi, the proposal calls for the Strait of Hormuz to be reopened on the sixth day, with negotiations between Iran and the United States on a final agreement beginning on the seventh day. The agreement would cover issues agreed by both sides, including Iran’s nuclear programme.
Iran’s conditions include ending the naval blockade imposed on Iranian ports, allowing Tehran to export oil, and releasing frozen Iranian assets, as well as a ceasefire covering regional fronts. Araghchi linked any progress on the strait or the resumption of talks to the implementation of these conditions, describing them as clear. US President Donald Trump announced on Saturday, 26 September, that he rejected the Iranian proposal, calling it unacceptable.
Tehran awaits official US response through mediators
However, after Trump’s remarks, Araghchi said Tehran was awaiting an official US position to be conveyed by the mediators, stressing that his country would make its decision after receiving the response. On Monday, 28 September, Araghchi held a meeting lasting several hours with Qatari mediators in New York.
After the meeting, he said the discussions had addressed ideas on how to implement the Iranian conditions and find solutions regarding them, explaining that the Qatari side would present those ideas again to US officials before conveying Washington’s final response to Tehran. Before leaving New York to return to Iran, Araghchi added that channels for exchanging messages through the Qatari and Pakistani mediators had become more serious since the Iranian plan was submitted.
Washington links agreement to addressing nuclear issue
He said the Qatari mediators knew how to deliver the response to the Iranian side, and that the subsequent decision would be taken in Tehran on the basis of the officially conveyed US position. Meanwhile, a US official said the indirect talks had been positive and constructive, but stressed that reaching an agreement required addressing Iran’s nuclear programme.
He explained that Washington was prepared to discuss easing sanctions and releasing frozen Iranian funds in exchange for progress on nuclear issues, noting that differences remained over the timing of commitments and the sequence of steps to be implemented by each side. The response was delivered after days of intensive contacts led by Qatar between the Iranian and US delegations in New York.
Reports based on sources familiar with the talks had indicated, on the eve of the response being conveyed, that progress was limited and that the two sides remained far apart over the required conditions and the sequence for implementing them.
