Qatar to relay Iran’s Hormuz proposal as nuclear dispute holds up talks
Tehran’s plan links reopening the Strait of Hormuz to US steps on sanctions and frozen funds. Washington says any agreement must address Iran’s nuclear programme.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met Qatari mediators in New York to discuss Tehran’s proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. He said Qatar would take the ideas to the United States and that Iran was awaiting Washington’s response.
The plan calls for the US to release frozen Iranian funds, lift sanctions and end its naval blockade of Iranian ports. Araghchi said those steps could be completed within four or five days, followed by the strait reopening and nuclear negotiations beginning by the seventh day. That timetable is Iran’s proposal, not an agreed schedule.
An unnamed US official told Al Jazeera that indirect discussions were continuing and described them as “positive and constructive”. The official said there would be no agreement unless Iran’s nuclear programme was addressed, and said the sides remained apart over the timing and order of commitments.
US President Donald Trump rejected the proposal on Saturday, calling it “unacceptable”, according to the report. Araghchi said he hoped to receive a response by Tuesday, but planned to return to Tehran within hours of the meeting.
The report says Iran closed the strait after the US and Israel launched an offensive on 28 February, sharply curtailing shipping. It also describes some vessels using a US-supervised route near Oman, so the disruption has not halted all transits.
