Efforts to de-escalate tensions between Iran and the US have been dealt a major blow. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi proposed opening the Strait of Hormuz within seven days during the United Nations General Assembly. In return, Iran put some conditions before the US. However, US President Donald Trump rejected this proposal.

However, Iran’s foreign minister says the mediators have yet to give Tehran an official US response. So Iran is waiting for a formal reply and then will decide further. Mediated talks between the US and Iran were also going on during the United Nations General Assembly.

What were the terms of the contract?

According to Araghchi, Iran’s proposal is based on early implementation of the terms of the Islamabad agreement signed in June. This would require the US to release at least $12 billion in frozen Iranian funds, lift sanctions on Iranian oil and end the US naval blockade of Iranian ports. Along with this, fighting has to be stopped in the entire area. Including Lebanon.

According to Iran, if the US accepts these conditions, it could take four to five days to complete the initial steps. After this, the Strait of Hormuz will be opened on the sixth day. Negotiations on a final agreement with the US will begin on the seventh day. This will include issues agreed upon by both countries, including Iran’s nuclear program. This seven-day time limit will start from the day the US accepts the proposal.

Blockade of Hormuz will hurt Iran: Trump

Trump says Iran wants the deal because the blockade of Hormuz is hurting it economically. He also claimed that about 20 ships had passed through Hormuz in the last 24 hours, although experts have different estimates on this claim. Trump said that Iran closed Hormuz with the intention of creating problems for the world, but this was followed by the largest military blockade in US history. Calling it a steel wall, he said that now Iran is not getting money.

Meanwhile, according to a Wall Street Journal report, Trump’s allies are considering the possibility of resuming the bombing of Iran after the midterm elections. Hormuz is one of the world’s important oil-gas routes. Before the war, a fifth of the world’s oil and gas trade passed through this route.