US President Donald Trump has rejected an Iranian proposal that would have reopened the Strait of Hormuz within seven days and sought to end the ongoing fighting in the Middle East, while Tehran said on Sunday that diplomacy remained the way to resolve the conflict.
Iran had conveyed the proposal through Qatari mediators during the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Under the proposal, Iran said it could reopen the strategic waterway and restore normal maritime passage within seven days if conditions including the lifting of the US naval blockade of Iranian ports, a waiver of sanctions on Iranian oil sales and a ceasefire extending to Lebanon were met.
Trump said that he had rejected the proposal, arguing that the conditions were not acceptable. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi subsequently said Tehran remained committed to a diplomatic solution and that reopening the Strait would depend on agreed conditions being fulfilled through negotiations.
The Strait of Hormuz is a major global energy-shipping route. Shipping traffic through the waterway has fallen sharply amid the conflict. Reuters reported earlier this week that only 17 commodity vessels crossed the strait over one weekend, compared with 37 the previous week and a pre-war average of about 125 vessels a day.
The latest diplomatic exchanges came as world leaders gathered in New York for the 81st session of the UN General Assembly, with the conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran among the major issues confronting the international community.
Iran’s proposal and the US rejection leave the status of negotiations and the reopening of the strategic waterway unresolved, with Tehran saying further progress depends on diplomatic engagement and agreed conditions.
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