Published: 01:00 AM, 26 September 2026
Iran pitches seven-day roadmap to end conflict
Oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz have become a key issue in the US-Iran war. -Agency
Iran has proposed a seven-day roadmap aimed at ending the war with the United States.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi outlined the plan to reporters in New York on Thursday, according to US media. The proposal seeks to implement the conditions in the Memorandum of Understanding agreed by Washington and Tehran in June, including a halt to hostilities and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
Reportedly passed to Washington via mediators earlier this week, Iran's proposal asks the US to meet specific conditions within seven days to restart ceasefire talks and end the blockade choking the strategically important strait, Al Jazeera reports.
The restrictions on maritime traffic in Hormuz have become a key issue in the conflict due to the impact on oil and gas exports and the global economy.
The proposal, which was presented to reporters on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, comes as the war, started by US and Israeli strikes, is almost into its seventh month.
The US-Iran MoU deal expired in August as each side accused the other of violations, and there has been little sign since that they could return to the agreement, although Tehran has suggested it could happen. Under Iran's proposal, hostilities
would end on all fronts, including Gaza and Lebanon, within seven days, The New York Times reported.
Washington would also release Iran's frozen assets, estimated at no less than $12bn, waive sanctions on Iranian oil and lift its naval blockade.
The Strait of Hormuz would reopen on the final day of the period. Talks on Iran's nuclear programme, ostensibly the root cause of the conflict according to President Donald Trump, would start immediately.
The proposal closely resembles the MoU, but sets out a hugely ambitious timetable. The Pakistani and Qatari-brokered deal signed on June 17 set a 60-day window for negotiations, but still unravelled within weeks.
Vague wording led to disputes over who controlled shipping through the strait, and the two sides traded attacks before US President Donald Trump declared the deal "over" on July 7.
"We have introduced a plan to the United States through the intermediators," Araghchi told reporters.
'America must choose'
Separately, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a US television interview that it is for the the Trump administration to choose whether to end the war, as Tehran does not wish to continue fighting.
"When we can resolve issues through dialogue, we shouldn't resort to killing one another. But with the instigations conducted by Israel, they have imposed this war on us," he said on Fox News' 'Special Report with Bret Baier'.
"But we do not wish to continue. It's America that must choose whether it wants to end this or not," he said in remarks translated by the broadcaster that aired on Thursday.
Pezeshkian took a defiant stand at the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, telling the world that Iran would not "bend at the knee" to Washington - even as Trump acknowledged ongoing US-Iran talks.
In the Fox interview, he said: "If the current American government, within international legal frameworks, wishes to reach an agreement, fine. If not, before the [US midterm] elections or after the elections, what difference does it make for us?"
Earlier this month, Pezeshkian said Tehran would "immediately reciprocate" if the US returned to its commitments under the MoU.
