Iranian initiative proposes fully reopening Hormuz on sixth day of 7-day plan
Key Facts
Iran proposed a 7-day initiative to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz on the sixth day, according to comments by Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi reported by China Daily on October 22. Araqchi said indirect contacts with Washington were continuing through Pakistan and Qatar, and that meeting Iran’s conditions would pave the way for further rounds of negotiations toward a final agreement. Meanwhile, Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said Tehran would not allow enriched nuclear material to leave the country. Rezaei described the material as “national wealth” intended for use inside Iran. He also said there would be no negotiations before the United States took confidence-building steps and implemented Tehran’s conditions.
Araqchi said Washington had agreed to Iran’s conditions but had requested additional provisions, without China Daily specifying their nature. The initiative combines reopening the maritime passage with resuming talks, but makes implementation of Iran’s demands a condition for advancing to the next stage. Those demands include a ceasefire across the Middle East, the release of frozen Iranian assets abroad and the lifting of sanctions on the oil sector, the newspaper reported. Reuters said the conditions also include the lifting of the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports and an end to fighting on regional fronts. The news agency said Washington had insisted from the start of the talks on discussing Iran’s nuclear program, keeping the nuclear issue at the heart of the dispute even as indirect contacts continue.
Rezaei insists enriched material remain in Iran, while Washington says nuclear issues cannot be bypassed in any agreement. The Associated Press quoted a U.S. official as saying the Trump administration would not reach an agreement with Tehran before addressing those issues. The agency said the dispute includes the timing and sequencing of steps, placing Iran’s proposal amid a disagreement that goes beyond reopening the maritime passage. On September 25, Iran offered to reopen the strait and resume nuclear talks within 7 days if Washington lifted its naval blockade of Iranian ports, relinquished oil sanctions and observed a ceasefire that included Lebanon. The Associated Press reported on September 28 that mediators continued working on an agreement despite obstacles, and that indirect talks continued after U.S. President Donald Trump rejected Iran’s previous proposal.
The new initiative resembles a temporary understanding the two sides reached in June, according to the Associated Press, but it collapsed within days. The understanding called for discussions on Iran’s nuclear program over 60 days, the agency said. On maritime traffic, Iran said 7 oil tankers caught fire or were damaged in the Strait of Hormuz during the night of October 21 to 22, but the Associated Press said it could not independently verify the account. Lloyd’s List Intelligence recorded 28 attacks on ships during October through the 22nd, the highest number since the war began, according to the agency. Still, tankers continued transporting oil through the strait under U.S. military protection, and some companies took a night-time route near Oman’s coast.
What is known as “dark shipping” helped bring oil shipments from the Gulf back to levels close to those before the war, according to the Associated Press, but at a higher cost in time, money and seafarer safety. Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline is an alternative route that bypasses the strait; Aramco Chief Executive Amin Nasser said its capacity had risen from 2 million to 7 million barrels per day. U.S. Energy Information Administration data show total oil flows through Hormuz fell from 21.6 million barrels per day in the fourth quarter of 2025 to 14.9 million in the first quarter of 2026, then to 4.9 million in the second quarter. The average spot price for Brent crude reached $114 a barrel in September, up $23 from August, the agency said, amid escalating attacks on oil infrastructure and tankers in the region. The agency said vessel-tracking data had become less reliable since the end of February, a limitation on interpreting flow figures for the period.
U.N. spokesman Stéphane Dujarric called for an end to attacks on ships and a resumption of diplomacy to reopen the strait and ease tensions, according to the Associated Press. The agency also reported that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard leadership threatened to strike U.S. bases in the region if Washington continued helping commercial ships transit. Arrangements to reopen the passage remain tied to the outcome of contacts Araqchi said were continuing through Pakistan and Qatar. The next release of the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s Short-Term Energy Outlook is scheduled for November 10, 2026. The report is expected to provide a later update to the oil-flow data cited by the agency, while Iran’s initiative continues to link reopening the strait to implementing its conditions and then resuming rounds of negotiations.