Iran says the Strait of Hormuz could reopen within days if the US meets its terms, as attacks on shipping hit a wartime high
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran's September plan still stands: lift the US naval blockade and oil sanctions and agree a ceasefire on all fronts, and the strait reopens on day six. Britain's maritime monitor says at least 10 ships were attacked in or near Hormuz in a week, the most since the war began.
Iran says it is still prepared to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within days, but only if the United States accepts the conditions Tehran set out in a seven-day ceasefire plan it presented in September. The offer was repeated on Sunday by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi as attacks on merchant shipping in and around the waterway climbed to their highest weekly level since the war began in February.
Speaking to Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency, Araghchi said Tehran was still studying comments Washington had sent back on the proposal. The plan calls for an end to the American naval blockade of Iranian ports, the lifting of sanctions on Iranian oil and a ceasefire on all fronts. According to Araghchi, if those terms are met the strait would reopen on the sixth day and negotiations would start on the seventh. He described the conditions as fair and said the US could satisfy them within a few days if it really wanted the waterway open.
The diplomatic message comes against a sharp rise in violence at sea. The UK Maritime Trade Operations agency, which monitors shipping in the region, said at least 10 vessels had been attacked in or near the strait since last Sunday, and 23 attacks had been recorded since the start of October, almost twice the usual rate. The agency has also warned that the real number may be higher, because many ships now switch off their tracking systems and no longer report incidents.
Fresh incidents were reported over the weekend. A tugboat sailing south off the coast of the United Arab Emirates was hit by two unidentified projectiles on Sunday; it was damaged but continued its voyage, and one person suffered minor injuries. On Saturday Iran's Revolutionary Guards said a supertanker carrying more than two million barrels of crude had struck a mine and caught fire while, they claimed, trying to cross the strait illegally with US support and its trackers turned off. The Guards did not say exactly where the incident took place.
Tehran's tone remains hard. Iran's newly confirmed defence minister, Mehrdad Akhlaghi, warned that the United States and its allies would suffer enormous damage if Washington resumed its military campaign. President Donald Trump rejected an earlier Iranian proposal to end the war late last month, although indirect contacts have continued, and he has said the US will not attack Iran before the midterm elections.
The stakes reach well beyond the Gulf. Iraq, which normally ships most of its oil through Hormuz, says the war has already cost it around 60 billion dollars in lost export revenue, and shipping and energy markets are watching closely for any sign that the waterway might return to normal traffic.