Date: September 27, 2026
Reporter: Emilly Jordan
Iran on Sunday insisted that diplomacy remained the only way to resolve its conflict with the United States and Israel after U.S. President Donald Trump rejected an Iranian proposal aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz and ending the fighting.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Tehran's conditions for reopening the strategically important waterway remained unchanged and that any move toward restoring normal shipping would depend on those conditions being met.
“Our conditions are clear,” Araqchi said in a social media post. “Only a negotiated solution can get them out of this deadlock.”
Iran presented the proposal during the United Nations General Assembly in New York earlier in the week and said it had been transmitted to Washington through Qatari mediators. Under the proposal, Iran said the Strait of Hormuz could be reopened within seven days, followed by broader negotiations on issues agreed upon by both sides.
Trump said on Saturday that he had rejected the proposal. Speaking to reporters at the White House, he argued that Iran was seeking an immediate agreement over the waterway because of the economic and military pressure it was facing.
Despite Trump's public rejection, Araqchi said Iranian officials had not yet received a formal notification from the mediators that Washington had definitively rejected the proposal. Tehran was waiting for the mediators to communicate the U.S. position before deciding how to proceed.
The Strait of Hormuz has become a central issue in the conflict because of its importance to global energy supplies. The fighting has sharply reduced commercial shipping through the waterway, disrupting oil flows and contributing to wider economic pressure.
Iran has said reopening the strait would be linked to the easing of U.S. military pressure and the lifting of a U.S. blockade on Iranian ports. A senior Iranian official previously told Reuters that Tehran could reopen the waterway within seven days if Washington took steps toward a diplomatic settlement.
Araqchi said on Friday that the Iranian proposal would begin a seven-day process leading to the reopening of the strait and a pause in regional fighting. If Washington accepted the arrangement, Iran and the United States could then begin broader negotiations on mutually agreed issues.
Those negotiations could include Iran's nuclear programme. Trump has repeatedly said Iran must not acquire a nuclear weapon, while a senior Iranian official told Reuters that Tehran would not surrender what it considers its rights under its nuclear programme, including uranium enrichment.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said his government is prepared to negotiate over its nuclear programme and other outstanding issues but would not accept what he described as bullying or coercion. He said Iran was not seeking war but would defend itself against pressure, threats and attacks.
The conflict began on February 28 with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran. Since then, periods of reduced fighting have been followed by renewed attacks, with the conflict extending beyond Iran and Israel to other parts of the Middle East.
Iran and its allies have launched attacks against U.S. partners and interests in the Gulf, while Houthi forces in Yemen have targeted Saudi interests. The continuing disruption around the Strait of Hormuz has added pressure to global energy markets and shipping.
A U.S. official previously described indirect discussions with Iran through mediators as “positive and constructive,” indicating that diplomatic contacts have continued even as military tensions remain high.
For now, Tehran is waiting for the mediators to convey Washington's formal position on the proposal. Iran has maintained that reopening the Strait of Hormuz will depend on negotiated conditions, while the Trump administration has rejected the current proposal and continued to press Tehran over the conflict and its nuclear programme.
The disagreement leaves the future of the diplomatic effort uncertain as the conflict continues to affect regional security, energy supplies and international shipping.