Iran to reply within days to US response on Hormuz reopening proposal, Araghchi says

Right · 2Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Thursday 8 October that Iran is still reviewing Washington's response to its proposal, under which the Strait of Hormuz could be reopened within seven days. 1 2 Right · 1He said Iran could reply within days, so the next step in the exchange rests with Tehran. 2 Right · 2"The diplomatic process is still continuing," Araghchi said, indicating that talks between the two sides have not broken down. 1 2

Mixed · 2The Jerusalem Post's report relays his remarks through Tasnim, an Iranian semi-official news agency, while Anadolu quotes him via the official IRNA agency, so they were not given in a direct statement to reporters. 2 3 Centre · 1Araghchi said messages are being exchanged through mediators: "We presented our proposal, which was called the 'seven-day plan,' and we heard the Americans' views in response. We are currently reviewing them. I believe we will respond within a few days." 3 Centre · 1According to Anadolu, the plan was conveyed through Qatari mediation: the US would take agreed steps in the first four or five days, normal navigation would resume on the sixth day and talks on a final agreement would begin on the seventh. Iran's demands include an end to hostilities, release of frozen assets, lifting of limits on Iranian oil exports and an end to the US naval blockade of Iranian ports. 3

Centre · 1Anadolu adds that Iranian government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani said on 30 September that Araghchi had received a US response without disclosing its contents; the contents remain undisclosed. It reports that Iran has kept the strait restricted, citing a June memorandum of understanding on navigation whose implementation stalled, after the US and Israel launched a war on Iran on 28 February. 3