Iran says a revised proposal could reopen the Strait of Hormuz within two days, provided the United States first implements measures demanded by Tehran. The United States has not publicly accepted the conditions, and the strait has not reopened.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on October 31 that talks with Qatari mediators had produced a plan to shorten the time needed to reopen the waterway from seven days to two. Under the proposed sequence, the United States would act on the first day, and on the second Iran would reopen the strait and restore navigation to what Araghchi described as its previous condition.
The proposal is conditional. Araghchi did not announce that Washington had agreed, that a binding agreement had been signed or that shipping had resumed. Qatar is acting as a mediator.
Iran’s conditions
Iran wants the United States to lift sanctions imposed after the Islamabad memorandum and restore oil-export waivers granted in June. It also wants a reduction of American military forces in the Middle East and the release of frozen Iranian funds, including money held in Qatar. Tehran further wants vessels to use shipping routes discussed with Oman, with other routes closed, and links the plan to ending the wider conflict, including Israeli attacks on Lebanon.
Qatar and Pakistan’s role
Qatar had presented Tehran with a seven-day confidence-building proposal about a week earlier, under which Iran and the United States would take daily steps towards broader peace talks.Tehran did not find it satisfactory.
Iran had separately been proposing its own seven-day reopening plan since September, involving the lifting of the US blockade of Iranian ports, the unfreezing of assets and approval of a Hormuz route backed by Tehran. Araghchi said Qatari mediators suggested shortening that plan, first to five days and now to two.
Araghchi said Qatari and Pakistani mediators were continuing consultations on Iran’s conditions. Pakistan’s Army Chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, has visited Tehran as part of the effort. Both countries were also involved in the June diplomatic framework known as the Islamabad memorandum.
The US response
As of November 1, Washington had not confirmed acceptance of Iran’s conditions. President Donald Trump described the negotiations as going well but said he was in no hurry to reach an agreement and indicated the United States still had Iranian targets to address. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Trump had not decided whether to resume strikes and that the administration preferred a diplomatic solution while remaining prepared for military action.
US Vice President JD Vance sent a letter to Rezaei, who described the change in Washington’s tone as positive. Trump played down its significance, saying he had approved it in connection with possible delivery of medical supplies to Iran. Araghchi said Iran had no immediate plan to meet US officials and that any decision on direct or indirect talks would depend on Washington accepting Tehran’s conditions.
Collapse of earlier diplomacy
The United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28, 2026, triggering a wider war and severe disruption to shipping in the strait. In June, Washington and Tehran engaged under the Islamabad memorandum, and on June 22 Pakistan’s state broadcaster reported that a first round of high-level talks had concluded in Bürgenstock, Switzerland, with agreement on a committee and working groups covering nuclear issues, sanctions, monitoring and dispute resolution. The memorandum collapsed in August. The published version of the memorandum carries an editorial note describing it as a draft, so it should not be treated as a fully executed treaty.
Why Hormuz matters
The strait links the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea and is about 39 kilometres wide at its narrowest. According to International Energy Agency figures based on 2025 flows, about 20 million barrels of oil a day passed through it, roughly a quarter of global seaborne oil trade, with about 80 percent of that oil destined for Asia. About 19 percent of global LNG trade also moves through it, including around 93 percent of Qatar’s LNG exports and 96 percent of the UAE’s.
Pipelines in Saudi Arabia and the UAE can bypass the strait but have capacity of only about 3.5 to 5.5 million barrels a day, far below the volume it carries, and there is no equivalent alternative for Qatar’s LNG.
