Iran Offers To Reopen Hormuz, Restart Nuclear Talks

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran is prepared to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days and restart nuclear talks with the United States if the Trump administration agrees to conditions Iran has previously put forward.

Araghchi made the offer on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly this week, according to state media. He linked it to the prospect of renewed negotiations with Washington and said the timeframe would run from acceptance by the United States.

“If certain conditions are met, the Strait of Hormuz will be open at the end of seven days, and talks will be restarted,” he said, adding that the demands were not new and matched terms referenced in an earlier Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding.

He said the conditions Iran sought from the United States were the same as those already agreed in the Islamabad MOU, which had been signed by the US President. The Islamabad MOU refers to a June ceasefire agreement between the two countries that collapsed in early July, after the Trump administration said it would not return to the June terms.

Oil Flows Hit By Strait Disruption

Markets were also focused on the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping lane for global energy supplies. Reuters, citing preliminary ship-tracking data, said vessel transits through the waterway fell to nine on Friday, well below peacetime levels. The Strait is normally the route for about a fifth of global oil supply.

Oil prices were marginally lower on Friday. Brent crude futures with a November expiry were down 1% at $105.56 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate with a November expiry was last down 1.8% at $92.94.

Iran Ties Offer To Nuclear Talks

The fresh proposal came after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian responded sharply to President Donald Trump’s warning of “annihilation” delivered during the UN General Assembly earlier this week. It also followed nearly seven months of war between the United States and Israel with Iran, according to the framing in the report.

Araghchi’s comments mark a new attempt to link economic and maritime conditions to a resumption of diplomatic engagement over Iran’s nuclear programme.

US, China Discuss Iran, Officials Say

The war and the prospect of negotiations have been a theme at a US-China summit in Washington this week. Chinese President Xi Jinping is on a three-day state visit to the United States, meeting Trump on issues including trade, artificial intelligence, Taiwan and Iran.

US Ambassador to China David Perdue said on Friday that Trump has made Washington’s position on Iran clear to Beijing in recent weeks, including during Xi’s latest meeting with Trump.

Perdue told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that any assistance China provides to Iran, whether direct or indirect—ranging from intelligence to parts or military equipment—was “totally unacceptable”. He described the message as a sustained effort, adding that Trump reiterated it again during the summit.

Indirect US-Iran talks resumed this week on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, after Trump officials sought Chinese help to pressure Tehran toward a settlement.

Saudi Alerts After Houthi Attacks

Further regional developments unfolded as the Iran-related diplomatic exchanges took place. Saudi authorities said the Houthis fired dozens of missiles and drones at targets in Saudi Arabia on Friday morning, and that Saudi forces intercepted six ballistic missiles.

Emergency alerts were issued in Mecca, Jeddah and Yanbu. Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan planned an urgent meeting of their chiefs of staff to discuss ways to support the kingdom under the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement.

Pezeshkian said on Thursday that it was up to the United States to decide whether the war would end, and he commented during a Fox News interview that “it’s America that must choose whether it wants to end this or not”. He also sought to distance Tehran from the escalation, saying “the Houthis are responsible for their own actions” and that Iran is “not at war with Saudi Arabia”. He said the Houthis “have their own issues”.

Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti took a different tone, telling troops to be ready “to lay down their lives” to fight the Houthis until the group is removed from power.

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25 September 2026