Iran’s Araghchi meets Qatari mediators as U.S. insists on nuclear progress
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met Qatari mediators in New York on a Hormuz reopen plan, while a U.S. official said there will be no deal unless Iran’s nuclear programme is addressed.
What we know: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met Qatari mediators in New York to discuss Iran’s proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Al Jazeera reported Tuesday. He told Iranian state media the Qataris would carry ideas from the meeting to the United States and that he hoped for Washington’s final response by Tuesday, then said he would fly to Tehran within hours.
“We talked about ideas and how to find solutions to fulfil Iran’s conditions and how to implement those conditions,” Araghchi said, according to Al Jazeera. “Whenever the Qataris have a response, they know how to get it to us.”
Iran’s seven-day plan: The proposal, announced Friday at the U.N. General Assembly, calls on the United States to release frozen Iranian funds, lift sanctions, and end its naval blockade of Iranian ports. Araghchi said those steps could be finished in four or five days, allowing the strait to reopen and nuclear talks to begin by day seven, Al Jazeera reported.
President Donald Trump rejected the plan Saturday as “unacceptable.” On Monday he told reporters that U.S. officials had spoken with mediators and added, “We’re going to win,” Al Jazeera reported.
What Washington is saying: A U.S. official who spoke to Al Jazeera described the indirect talks as “positive and constructive” but said there would be no agreement unless Iran’s nuclear programme is addressed. The official said Trump is willing to relieve sanctions and release frozen funds in exchange for nuclear progress, and that the sides remain apart on sequencing — who moves first and when.
On Monday Trump also denied an Axios report that he had offered sanctions relief and frozen funds, writing on Truth Social that he “offered them NOTHING!” and calling the story a “HOAX,” AFP/France 24 reported.
Hormuz and oil: Iran closed the strait, which handled roughly 20 percent of world oil and gas before the war, after the U.S.-Israel offensive that began Feb. 28, Al Jazeera reported. Oil has traded above $100 a barrel. Reuters, citing Kpler data reported by Al Jazeera, said Middle East crude exports rebounded in September to 12.8 million barrels per day — the highest since the war began — still well below 18.8 million bpd in February.
What this means: Mediators are still shuttling ideas after Trump’s public rejection, but the United States is tying any sanctions or funds relief to nuclear steps Iran has not sequenced the same way. Until that gap closes, Hormuz stays contested and oil markets stay on edge.