Iran Pitches Seven-Day Hormuz Deal as US Weighs Pressure vs. Midterms

Iran used the United Nations gathering of world leaders in New York this week to press a fresh proposal on the Trump administration: end the fighting and reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days, provided Washington lifts its military blockade of Iranian ports, releases frozen Iranian assets and waives sanctions on Iranian oil sales, among other conditions.

None of those terms are new. What has changed is the timeline. Iran's pitch argued that a swift agreement could benefit President Donald Trump ahead of November's midterm elections.

Trump offered an early hint of his thinking, posting a map of the waterway on social media and calling it the "Trump Strait." Around the same time, Iranian state media reported that President Masoud Pezeshkian was heading home.

The diplomatic push unfolded against seven months of war and mounting economic pain on both sides. US envoys and Iranian representatives held three hours of indirect talks through mediators on Tuesday — their first such contact since a previous agreement meant to halt the fighting and open nuclear negotiations collapsed within days of its signing in June.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the latest talks as good and said Washington was open to more. But Trump used his UN speech to threaten to "annihilate" the Islamic Republic, while Pezeshkian, addressing the gathering a day later, said Iran would fight "until our last breath" — before closing his remarks by saying Tehran remained open to diplomacy.

Iran's top diplomat outlined the new proposal at a private gathering on the sidelines of the UN meeting on Thursday. The conditions largely mirror those in the June deal that fell apart.

The stakes centre on the main sources of frustration for both sides. Reopening the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran asserted control over after being attacked by the US and Israel, would ease global markets and reduce pressure on the US military, which has been escorting commercial ships through the waterway at risk of Iranian attack. Lifting the naval blockade and waiving oil sanctions would let Tehran export more crude and ease pressure on an economy hit by record-low currency values and soaring inflation.

Signalling Tehran's sense of urgency, Pezeshkian hosted the prime minister of Qatar, the mediator in the indirect talks, early Friday before much of New York had woken up.

"The choice now rests with the United States," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told journalists on Friday evening. The White House would say only that US officials were holding positive and constructive conversations with mediators.

Tehran has spent weeks in discussions with Oman, on the other side of the strait, on managing shipping traffic. Analysts said its rush for a deal reflects an eye on the midterms: Trump might see political benefit in an agreement, while a rejection risks renewed fighting that would push oil prices higher.

"Washington may believe that time is on its side: Maintain pressure through November, avoid another major military escalation before the midterms, and reassess afterward. Tehran may reach precisely the opposite conclusion," Danny Citrinowicz, a senior researcher at Israel's Institute for National Security Studies, said on X on Saturday.

Trump has said he is in no rush for a deal as the US strains Iran's economy with sanctions. The White House had yet to elaborate on his "Trump Strait" post. There was no immediate sign that Iran's top diplomat had left New York, and Iran's security forces at home have warned they still have targets left to strike.