Iran Offers Seven-Day Deadline to Reopen Strait of Hormuz

A senior Iranian official confirmed that a formal proposal was delivered to Washington on September 16, suggesting that a roadmap for de-escalation could be drafted during the ongoing UN summit. While Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is in New York, the official clarified that no direct meeting with President Donald Trump is scheduled. Tehran maintains that the onus remains on the United States to signal a clear commitment to diplomacy and establish a definitive timeline for future talks.

This diplomatic overture arrives at a volatile juncture. Iranian military authorities recently warned that any U.S. aggression would trigger unrestricted retaliation, setting the stage for a standoff between continued military posturing and new diplomatic tracks. Before the conflict began on February 28, the strait served as a vital artery for one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas. Current traffic has plummeted from an average of 125 commercial vessels per day to just two as of Monday. Markets reacted to the proposal with a slight dip in oil prices, reflecting the high stakes of a potential return to normalcy in the world’s most critical maritime chokepoint.