Iran Says US Accepted Some Hormuz Conditions
Iran said on Sunday that the United States has accepted some of its conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, but described Washington’s overall response as “insufficient” and warned that unresolved ambiguities still block any breakthrough at the world’s most critical oil chokepoint.
Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, made the remarks in an interview aired on Iranian state television, according to Xinhua. He said Tehran had transmitted seven conditions to the United States and that some — which he did not specify — had been accepted, while others remained unresolved.
An Indirect Channel Through Three Intermediaries
Rezaei said the US had approached Iran over the past two months through three separate channels — Pakistan, Qatar and Iraq — asking Tehran to present proposals.
“Iran proposed seven conditions to the US and clearly told the US that unless these conditions are met, it will not open the Strait of Hormuz to it, nor will it conduct any negotiations,” he said.
According to Gulf News, the US delivered its reply through Qatari intermediaries. Rezaei said Washington’s answer fell short: “They have given their reply, and we consider it insufficient. They must clarify the issues that remain ambiguous to us.”
A Seven-Day Proposal, Then a Rejection
During the UN General Assembly in late September, Iran presented a proposal offering to reopen the Strait and restore normal maritime traffic within seven days if Washington met its demands, Gulf News reported. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the plan had been conveyed “through Qatar” and that “the choice now rests with the United States.”
President Masoud Pezeshkian told CBS News that the proposal had been developed in coordination with supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, and that the truce process “will begin from the very day they accept it.”
The initiative appeared to stall days earlier. On September 26, President Donald Trump publicly rejected an earlier version of the plan, telling reporters: “I reject their proposal … They want to make a deal where they open the Strait immediately because they’re losing so badly.”
According to Gulf News, the Wall Street Journal reported within hours of Araghchi’s remarks that Trump was skeptical Tehran would meet his demands and expected to renew the US bombing campaign.
Why Hormuz Matters
The Strait of Hormuz is the only waterway out of the Persian Gulf, and roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil and gas supplies pass through it in peacetime. Iran effectively blocked the waterway after the US and Israel launched war on Iran on February 28, 2026, attacking ships and laying mines; the United States retaliated with a naval blockade of Iranian ports.
As Al Jazeera reported, the near-shutdown sent global oil and gas prices soaring, and Iran has since controlled passage — allowing through only ships from a handful of countries that struck individual deals with Tehran. Iran’s own oil exports through the strait account for about 80 percent of its total exports.
Rezaei disputed US claims that the strait is now open, saying some vessels move through smuggling networks and that shipping volumes remain far below pre-war levels. He said Iran will continue to hold the right to manage the waterway.
A Wide Gap, and Escalation Risks
Rezaei tied any reopening to concessions consistent with a June 2026 memorandum of understanding that collapsed after Iran fired on commercial ships it accused of deviating from an approved route. Those demands include the release of frozen Iranian assets, the lifting of sanctions on Iranian oil and an end to the US naval blockade. Iran has also demanded a halt to hostilities in Yemen and Lebanon.
The current claim of US concessions comes solely from the Iranian side. Washington has not publicly confirmed accepting any Iranian conditions, and Western reporting frames the gap between the two positions as wide.
Rezaei also issued a direct threat, saying that if the US again attacks Iran, American assets in West Asia — including key data systems and artificial intelligence facilities — would become targets, and that Iran is prepared to display new military capabilities if war reignites.
Regional tensions are already running high. During the same period, missile attacks attributed to Iran-backed Houthis struck Saudi airports, killing at least a dozen people. At the UN, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan complained that the “international community has been absent,” while Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow stood ready to help stabilize the region.
What to Watch
The immediate question is whether Washington will clarify the points Rezaei called ambiguous, likely centered on frozen assets, sanctions relief and the naval blockade. Analysts see little prospect of a near-term breakthrough and warn the standoff could veer toward either a ceasefire or renewed bombing.
Key signposts ahead include any formal US confirmation or denial of accepting Iranian conditions, further messages through Pakistan, Qatar or Iraq, concrete movement on frozen Iranian assets, and shipping-traffic data as a proxy for whether the strait is de facto reopening. With a strategic chokepoint still contested and both sides trading threats, the room for miscalculation remains wide.