Trump faces tough choices as Iran dangles deal to reopen Hormuz before US midterms

Iran has proposed a seven-day timetable to reopen the strait of Hormuz and begin nuclear talks, offering Donald Trump a possible exit from a political crisis but requiring concessions he may find hard to make. Iranian diplomats described a three-hour New York meeting this week with US envoy Steve Witkoff as productive, though they doubted Washington would follow through, according to The Guardian · RT.

Under the plan, the US would need to lift its naval blockade of Iran's oil ports within four to five days, restore sanctions waivers on Iranian oil exports, unfreeze some assets, and end fighting on all fronts, including ordering Benjamin Netanyahu to halt Israeli strikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon. On the sixth day Iran would reopen Hormuz via a new route agreed with Oman, with nuclear talks beginning the next day, far sooner than the 60-day window in the memorandum of understanding Trump signed in June. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the terms mirror the earlier Islamabad agreement, just accelerated, and said he remains skeptical Witkoff can deliver, recalling that the US bombed Iran the day after two previous talks he described as "productive and good." Saudi Arabia is reportedly uneasy that the route was negotiated bilaterally between Iran and Oman rather than with Gulf states as joint signatories. President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iranians want the war ended but noted the public has endured sanctions for 45 years.

Summarized by PolitiKool from The Guardian · RT’s reporting. Read the full story at The Guardian · RT →