What Is Iran’s Seven Day Plan to Reopen Hormuz Now?

Araghchi described it in New York on 24 September at a private gathering, according to Trita Parsi of the Quincy Institute, who attended. On 25 September he said Iran had sent Washington “a concrete seven-day plan”. In his words: “If the necessary conditions are met, the strait can be reopened, and normal maritime passage restored within seven days.”

Iran’s conditions are a regional ceasefire that includes Lebanon, the release of Iranian assets frozen abroad, the waiver of oil sanctions and an end to the US naval blockade of Iranian ports. President Masoud Pezeshkian said the ceasefire “process will begin from the very day they accept it.” In the sequence reported at the time, Iran would reopen Hormuz on the seventh day of the truce. Araghchi said the plan went to Washington through Qatar.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on 23 September: “if there’s an opportunity to exchange ideas and messages, we will.” Within hours of Iran’s announcement on 25 September, US officials told reporters that Trump had rejected the proposal and regarded a renewed bombing campaign as likely.

On 28 October the president was asked about a report that Vice President JD Vance had written to Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, to revive talks. Trump answered: “No. Iran needs help with medical supplies.” The exchange is covered in Did Vance Send a Letter to Iran’s Security Chief Rezaei?.

25 to 26 October: a Qatari delegation visited Tehran, and Qatar’s mediators were reported to have handed Iran a draft with a seven day timeline and daily steps for both sides. A senior Iranian official said Qatar had presented no new proposal and called its ideas “unacceptable”. The exchange is set out in Did Qatar Give Iran a New Draft Deal to End the War?. 28 October: Araghchi says the mediators are still working on how to carry out the plan. Late 28 October: two diplomats said US officials had told allies to prepare for strikes and Iranian retaliation after 3 November. Trump has made no final decision, they said. Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth removed the Joint Staff’s top strategic planner the same night. 29 October: Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Trump in a call that Ankara is pursuing diplomatic solutions on Hormuz and Yemen, according to Turkish officials.

Parsi said Araghchi told the New York gathering on 24 September that “a speedy agreement would help” Trump before the midterms. The diplomats’ account of the strike warning runs to the same date, 3 November.

Iran claims control of passage through the strait and targets vessels that cross without its authorisation. The US holds a counter-blockade of Iranian ports. The Strait of Hormuz topic page holds the running record. Under Iran’s plan both measures end within a week of an agreed truce.