Iran expects Strait of Hormuz to reopen next week

Tehran claims that the Strait of Hormuz could be open for business within seven days should Washington accept their conditions, followed by resumed nuclear negotiations.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi gave the timetable during the United Nations General Assembly in New York. “If certain conditions are met, the Strait of Hormuz will be open at the end of seven days, and talks will be restarted,” Abbas told reporters.

The proposal comes nearly seven months after the United States and Israel began their war with Iran, and days after President Masoud Pezeshkian answered Trump’s “annihilation” threat at UNGA.

Iran puts Hormuz on a seven-day timetable as oil prices move lower

Abbas said:

“The conditions we have asked the U.S. to meet are nothing new, nothing more than what was already in the Islamabad MOU, which was signed by the U.S. President.”

The Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding was the June ceasefire arrangement between Iran and the United States. It fell apart in early July.

It’s well documented where Trump went wrong. When Cryptopolitan reported on the Iranian deal months ago, there was no ambiguity about what Tehran was offering. Through intermediaries, Iran made clear that discussions of its nuclear program could resume if Hormuz reopened.

But oil prices are slipping today, reacting to potential of Washington-Tehran negotiations as usual. Futures contracts for November delivery of Brent crude oil crashed by 1%, trading at $105.56 per barrel, while futures contracts for November delivery of West Texas Intermediate crude oil slid by 1.8%, settling at $92.94 per barrel.

While that is happening, open-source intelligence reports using Sentinel-2 satellite imagery said U.S. carriers and destroyers were no longer visible along their earlier blockade positions in the Gulf of Oman and Arabian Sea from early September.

Those reports followed Iran’s claimed first operational use of the Qasem Basir anti-ship ballistic missile against American naval forces.

Officially, the range on the Qasem Basir is around 1,200 km, making the majority of the Gulf of Oman within striking distance, including past American fleets’ locations. According to the Iranian media, the guidance system uses electro-optical and infrared imaging technology to track ships in motion.

Reporters have described the weapon as a “carrier killer,” although the exact missile used in the September naval encounter has not been independently established.

Open-source tracking shows that the USS George Washington, USS George H.W. Bush, USS Tripoli, and several Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are outside the original blockade zone.

And now the USS Gerald R. Ford is leaving too, bringing the end of months-long deployments in the Middle East. According to U.S. Navy logs, the Ford and her accompanying ships completed an 11-month deployment which included operations related to the ongoing Iran War.

Independent trackers reported seeing two American aircraft carriers deployed in the broader area as CENTCOM planned “short and strong strikes” against Iran.

Trump presses China over Iran as Tehran says Washington must decide whether the war ends

U.S. Ambassador to China David Perdue said Friday that Trump has spent recent weeks warning Beijing against giving Iran assistance.

David told CNBC (NASDAQ: CMCSA) that the subject had taken up a large amount of his time and Trump’s attention over the past month, including during Trump’s latest meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“Believe me, believe me, much of my personal time and much of President Trump’s time over the last month has been that very topic. We made it very clear to them weeks ago that, you know, any help that they would give Iran, whether it would be direct or indirect, whether it would be intelligence or parts or military equipment, was totally unacceptable.”

David said Trump repeated that message during his latest discussion with Xi.

In the meantime, Masoud continues to place the blame squarely on Washington for the war not ending.

During a television appearance on Fox News (NASDAQ: FOXA, FOX), Masoud said that Iran does not want the war to go on, and it still wishes to talk. Moreover, he claimed that Tehran would agree to inspections of its nuclear program and enrichment below certain thresholds.

“It’s America that must choose whether it wants to end this or not,” Masoud said when asked whether the war could end before the close of the year.

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