Trump rejects Iran's seven-day plan to reopen Strait of Hormuz

President Donald Trump used his address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York to threaten Iran with annihilation if no deal is reached, while saying he believed an agreement could come after the US midterm elections. He framed the choice as whether to let Iran rebuild or to annihilate the Islamic Republic and drive its people into hell. He also said the midterms do not enter his mind on Iran and that his only goal is that Iran never has a nuclear weapon.

On the sidelines, diplomacy continued. Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, met US envoy Steve Witkoff, according to AFP and Iranian state media. Tehran's reported conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz were the immediate lifting of the US naval blockade, prompt payment of frozen Iranian assets and an end to war on all resistance fronts.

Trump later described a productive meeting between his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and what he called mediators of Iran. He said the talks lasted three hours and that 99 per cent of US efforts were aimed at ensuring Iran does not get a nuclear weapon. He said nuclear sites had been blown up and that Pickaxe Mountain could be bombed immediately if activity resumed.

Araghchi then told reporters Iran had sent a concrete seven-day plan to Washington through Qatari mediators. Under the plan, the Strait would reopen and normal maritime passage would be restored within seven days if conditions were met. The conditions included releasing billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets, waiving oil sanctions and lifting the US naval blockade of Iranian ports. Talks on Iran's nuclear programme could start after the US accepted the deal. A US official told Reuters the two sides were engaged in positive, constructive discussions through mediators.

Reports said Trump planned to reject the proposal and might resume bombing after the midterms. At the White House on Saturday, he did reject it. He said Iran wanted to open the Strait immediately because it was losing badly, that the US had total control of the Strait and that 29 ships had come out the previous night. He said he liked making deals but this one was not acceptable. He did not answer reporters when asked whether he would renew military action. Iran said only a negotiated settlement could reopen the Strait.

Regional and economic pressure continued. Military commanders from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan met in Riyadh to discuss support for Saudi Arabia amid attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, including enhanced intelligence sharing and military coordination. The US has threatened further sanctions on air service providers used by Iranian airlines, and Iraq and Oman were reported to be preparing to stop receiving Iranian flights.

Analysts offered divided views. Abbas Milani, director of Iranian studies at Stanford University, said the US naval blockade was causing considerable pressure, with shortages of medicine and trade, an inability to export oil and growing currency problems. He said Iran's demands were considerable and unlikely to be accepted, but that Iran wanted to show it was not solely responsible for blocking the Strait after China insisted the waterway should stay open. He said hardliners in Iran may have attacked ships to torpedo an earlier agreement and that Trump's post-midterm warning was aimed at Iranian hopes that a Democratic Congress would constrain him. He still expected an agreement.

Dr Sahar Razavi, director of Iranian and Middle Eastern studies at California State University, said Trump was using a familiar tactic of making a big threat to push Iran into a favourable deal. She said mediators had presented the same terms as a collapsed memorandum of understanding and that there had been little progress. She doubted Iran would water down its conditions because the Strait of Hormuz was its strongest leverage and it was aware of Trump's pressure ahead of the midterms.

Salman Shaikh, founder of the Shaikh Group, said the Iranian proposal condensed the timeline to seven days and put the ball in the US court. He said Gulf states were nervous about further escalation and that Qatar and Pakistan were working behind the scenes. He argued the US needed to guarantee any deal by opening the blockade, while regional dialogue would be needed for longer-term security. Yemen, he warned, showed how the conflict could metastasise.