Iran kept the door to negotiations with the United States open despite US President Donald Trump announcing his rejection of a proposal submitted by Tehran through the Qatari mediator to restore shipping and trade through the Strait of Hormuz and end the fighting in the Middle East within 7 days.
Tehran awaits a written US response
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi remains in New York, where indirect talks between the two sides are continuing as Tehran awaits an official written US response through mediators. Araghchi played down Trump’s announcement rejecting the proposal, saying the US president makes contradictory statements, while Tehran has yet to receive an official response from Washington through mediation channels.
He said his country was waiting for the US position to arrive in writing, particularly through the Qatari mediator, who recently carried messages between Tehran and Washington and helped activate the new round of mediation. The Iranian foreign minister believes a diplomatic solution is the only way out of the current deadlock.
He said Washington had tried the military option and failed, and had also used economic pressure, sanctions and a blockade, while Iran had demonstrated, in his view, its ability to withstand that pressure. He therefore considered a return to the diplomatic track the only option available for addressing the crisis. Trump announced on Saturday that he rejected the Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to shipping and trade and end the fighting in the region within 7 days.
Iran’s conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz
He said Iran wanted to reach an agreement and immediately resume shipping and trade because it had “suffered heavy losses”, adding: “I also like making agreements, but this proposal is unacceptable.” Tehran links reopening the strait to acceptance of a set of conditions that Araghchi says represent the rights of the Iranian people and enjoy consensus within Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, stressing that these demands are now known to all parties.
According to Omar Hawash, the conditions include lifting the maritime blockade on Iranian ports, enabling Tehran to access its frozen funds, and ending threats on the Iranian and Lebanese fronts. Iran is also demanding the removal of sanctions imposed after the memorandum of understanding was signed.
The Iranian formula is based on returning to that memorandum in exchange for reopening the Strait of Hormuz within 7 days, followed by a transition to final negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme. Tehran says its demands do not go beyond the substance of previous understandings, while Washington believes the proposal does not address all the issues it considers fundamental.
Political contacts continue in New York
Sources in Tehran say indirect talks between the Iranian and US delegations in New York are continuing. Araghchi’s remaining there increases the possibility that contacts will continue in the coming days, while Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has returned to Tehran after taking part in the diplomatic activity linked to this round.
Pezeshkian said Iran had continued its indirect talks with the United States in recent days to show that it did not fear diplomatic solutions and did not want war. The Iranian president held Washington and Israel responsible for the current situation in the region, while affirming his country’s readiness to pursue the political track and reach an agreement through negotiations.
Iranian warnings over the strait’s security and shipping
Alongside the political contacts, Iranian armed forces spokesman Abolfazl Shekarchi said Iran controlled the Strait of Hormuz and was ready for any new confrontation. Shekarchi rejected any US administration of the strait, warning that US forces would face Iranian strikes if Washington tried to impose its will in the region.
Early on Sunday, the Strait of Hormuz Management Authority established by Iran warned ships against using what it described as “illegal routes”. It said on X that using those routes carried the risk of financial and human losses for the vessel, its owner, master and crew, and could lead to major restrictions on the vessel’s future passage through the strait.
The authority urged shipowners to exercise due diligence to prevent such violations. It added that if charterers violated the rules it had established, future restrictions could extend to all vessels belonging to the companies concerned, rather than only the vessel that committed the violation.
Mukhtar Haddad, editor-in-chief of Iran’s Al-Wefaq newspaper, said the door to diplomacy had not been completely closed, citing information that the Iranian delegation might remain in New York until Wednesday to continue negotiations. He considered this an indication that there was still an opportunity to resume dialogue, despite Trump’s rejection of the proposal submitted through Qatar.
Haddad said that, in his view, Iran had not made impossible demands or demands outside the memorandum of understanding, but had proposed simplifying the equation by returning to the memorandum, reopening the Strait of Hormuz within 7 days, and then beginning final negotiations on the nuclear programme. He considered Trump’s rejection of the offer a lost opportunity for reaching a genuine agreement.
Haddad rejected interpreting Iran’s position from a perspective of strength or weakness, saying Tehran wanted an agreement and sought to benefit from its advantages. He held Trump responsible for what he described as his “predicament” as a result of aligning himself with the ambitions of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court, stressing that any future negotiations should be based on a win-win principle.
Haddad warned that continued US intransigence, as he described it, and refusal to return to the memorandum of understanding could push Iran to toughen its conditions and change its positions, making it more difficult to reach an agreement in the future. The warning reflects the gap between Tehran’s vision of returning to previous understandings and Washington’s demand that additional issues be included in any settlement.
By contrast, Gabriel Souma, a former member of the advisory council of Trump’s campaign, said the US president was imposing conditions on Iran that could not be bypassed. He accused Tehran of continuing to work on producing a nuclear weapon and refusing to sign the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, noting that Trump insists this issue must be addressed first before approving any agreement.
Souma added that Iran was increasing its production of ballistic missiles, which he considered a threat to the security of US partners and allies in the region and Europe because of the missiles’ range. He said the missile issue would remain one of the main areas of focus in any potential negotiations between Washington and Tehran.
Souma also accused Iran of interfering in the affairs of neighbouring countries and supporting Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Ansar Allah “Houthis” group in Yemen, and resistance factions in Iraq. He considered ending these policies one of the conditions Trump was demanding that Tehran implement, alongside demands concerning the nuclear programme and ballistic missiles.
Souma concluded that Iran had to accept the conditions set by Trump, saying there were other US demands that Tehran had yet to implement. He therefore described the latest Iranian proposal as insufficient, stressing that Washington would not approve an agreement that did not include the issues and conditions to which it was committed.
