Iran is reviewing US feedback on Tehran’s proposed seven-day plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and expects to respond within the next few days, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Thursday.
“The negotiation process is still ongoing, and messages are being exchanged through mediators,” Araghchi said, according to the official IRNA news agency.
“We presented our proposal, which was called the ‘seven-day plan,’ and we heard the Americans’ views in response,” he added.
“We are currently reviewing them. I believe we will respond within a few days,” he said.
The seven-day initiative centers on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and resuming negotiations between Tehran and Washington.
What is the 7-day plan?
Araghchi said in late September that Iran could reopen the strategic waterway within seven days if Washington accepted the proposal conveyed through Qatari mediation.
Under the plan, the US would be expected to take agreed steps during the first four or five days, allowing normal navigation through the strait to resume on the sixth day and negotiations on a final agreement to begin on the seventh.
Tehran’s demands include an end to hostilities, the release of frozen Iranian assets, the lifting of restrictions on Iranian oil exports and an end to the US naval blockade on Iranian ports.
The proposal was discussed through Qatari mediation during indirect contacts between Iran and the US on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York in September.
On Sept. 30, Iranian government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani said Araghchi had received the US response to the Qatari-mediated proposal, without disclosing its contents.
Tension in Hormuz
Iran has kept the Strait of Hormuz restricted while demanding that Washington fulfill commitments under a June memorandum of understanding. Iran says the waterway will not fully reopen until Iran’s conditions are met and US commitments are implemented.
The US and Israel launched a war against Iran on Feb. 28. Tehran responded with missile and drone attacks across the region and effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, while the US later imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports.
Washington and Tehran later signed a memorandum of understanding in June concerning freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, but implementation stalled over disagreements related to security in the strategic waterway.