Tehran receives US response to Hormuz reopening proposal, but differences remain over implementation

Tehran said on Wednesday it had received a US response to its proposal to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, days after US President Donald Trump said he had rejected the plan.

Iranian government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani said Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi presented the US response to President Masoud Pezeshkian during a cabinet meeting.

Iran submitted the proposal last week, calling for reciprocal steps to be taken within seven days. These included the United States lifting its blockade of Iranian ports in return for Tehran reopening the Strait of Hormuz to shipping.

Trump said on Sunday that he had rejected the Iranian proposal, but Araghchi said at the time that Tehran had not received an official response.

Reuters quoted a source familiar with the talks as saying Qatari mediators briefed Araghchi on the US response on Tuesday during a stop in Doha on his way back from New York.

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The source said the two sides broadly agreed on the steps required, but still disagreed over the order in which they should be implemented.

Pezeshkian said any agreement should be based on a “win-win” strategy.

An Iranian official said the main disagreement between Iran and the United States concerned the sequence of the steps, rather than the elements of the seven-day plan.

Axios, citing informed sources, reported that there had been no tangible progress in Monday’s talks, with neither the United States nor Iran showing a willingness to make concessions.

US officials told Axios that Trump could order a return to large-scale military operations after the midterm elections.

Iranian officials stressed that Tehran would consider making concessions only after Washington agreed to return to the memorandum of understanding.

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