The United States and Iran are discussing a phased arrangement in New York to end the war that has continued between them for 209 days. The first stage would involve reopening the Strait of Hormuz to shipping in exchange for Washington lifting its economic blockade of Tehran, as diplomatic efforts continue on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly meetings.
The talks come 100 days after the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding on 17 June 2026, which failed to prevent a return to military confrontation.
The US administration later said that Iran had attacked commercial vessels flying the flags of neutral countries in the Strait of Hormuz on 6 and 7 July, while US forces began strikes on 7 July targeting missile-launch sites, air-defence systems, military naval assets, and support and command-and-control infrastructure inside Iran.
Negotiators explore phased agreement to exit war
Reuters quoted two Iranian sources, regional officials and two Western diplomatic sources as saying that negotiators were exploring a gradual way out of the war, with each side maintaining its leverage. Tehran is seeking an end to the blockade, which has affected its oil exports and economy, while Washington wants to guarantee the free passage of vessels through the vital strait for global energy supplies.
A senior Iranian official said the most realistic path to resolving the impasse was to address the crisis in stages, with the first step including an end to the blockade and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. He added that the proposed arrangement could also give Iran access to part of its frozen assets. However, disagreement over which side should begin fulfilling its commitments remains a major obstacle.
Washington does not want to lift the blockade before obtaining guarantees on shipping, while Tehran refuses to give up its leverage over the strait without tangible relief from the economic and military pressure against it. Negotiators face an additional challenge in ensuring that any new understanding lasts, after previous arrangements collapsed in July.
The parties involved in the contacts believe that reaching an initial formula will not be enough unless it includes simultaneous steps or guarantees that make the concessions sustainable and acceptable to both sides. The Iranian official said his country was also preparing for the possibility of renewed confrontation, accusing the United States of using economic blockade and the threat of force to pressure Tehran.
Disagreements hinder guarantees for sustaining understanding
He added that Iranian forces were on alert, arguing that what he described as excessive US demands reduced the chances of diplomatic success. According to regional sources, Tehran had shown a willingness to remove its demand for collecting fees for passage through the Strait of Hormuz from the main agreement and place it in a side annex, after ending the blockade became a more urgent priority.
The sources said this would be a temporary arrangement and would not mean that Iran was formally abandoning its position on managing the waterway. Gulf countries rejected the proposal to impose transit fees and stressed during their contacts in New York the need to restore freedom of navigation and prevent the strait from being turned into a means of pressuring countries in the region.
At the same time, these countries pushed for de-escalation and the launch of a political process to spare the region another round of war. US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner took part on Tuesday, 22 September, in talks lasting about three hours with the Iranian delegation led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. The discussions took place through intermediaries who moved between the two sides, according to details published by US media.
Diverging positions on conditions for reopening strait
US President Donald Trump described the talks as productive and said there was momentum towards reaching an agreement. Witkoff also said that the intermediaries had completed a round of lengthy discussions between the delegations, expressing hope that they would be constructive and stressing that mediation efforts were continuing. Iran’s television, meanwhile, said the contacts had been held to convey Tehran’s conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, including lifting the naval blockade, releasing Iran’s frozen assets and ending the war on all fronts.
Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, had earlier announced that his country had conveyed its conditions to Washington through Qatar and was awaiting Trump’s response. The memorandum signed in June included Iran’s commitment to make efforts to secure the passage of commercial vessels from the Gulf to the Gulf of Oman.
The US administration later accused Tehran of violating the understanding, while Iran insists that the blockade and military pressure must end before it makes concessions on the strait. US Central Command says US forces supported the passage of one billion barrels of oil through the strait over two months and that mines had been cleared from the main channels. Independent estimates cited by the Associated Press, however, indicated that shipping traffic remained below pre-war levels.
About one-fifth of global oil and natural gas trade passed through the strait before the fighting began. Trump met representatives of nine Arab countries in New York to discuss the war and the process of ending it.
Elections put pressure on US-Iranian negotiations
Gulf leaders asked for clarification of Washington’s plans after the congressional midterm elections scheduled for 3 November, and whether the United States would resume military operations if Iran refused to return to negotiations.
Trump said he believed an agreement could be reached after the election, but stressed that the Iran file would not depend on its outcome. Reuters quoted former US negotiator Dennis Ross as estimating the chances of reaching an agreement before the vote at about 30%, saying that both sides had incentives that could push them towards an understanding before the election.
Ross believes that reopening the Strait of Hormuz could help ease tensions in the Gulf and limit rises in oil and fuel prices inside the United States, while Iran could gain a greater opportunity to reduce economic pressure before the period in which the US administration has stronger political incentives to reach a deal comes to an end.
Control over leverage remains at the heart of the dispute in the New York talks: the United States has the blockade and sanctions, while Iran has the ability to disrupt navigation in a strategic waterway. No final formula has yet emerged for the order in which steps would be implemented or for guarantees that could prevent a new understanding from collapsing and fighting from resuming.
