Iran says two-day plan could reopen Strait of Hormuz

Tehran — Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says talks are under way with Qatari mediators on a plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within two days, provided the United States accepts Tehran's conditions.

Araghchi told Al Jazeera that Tehran had reached the plan with Qatari mediators, and described Washington's offer of dialogue as “a positive step”. An Iranian delegation has visited Doha, where Qatar has been shuttling between the two sides.

Iran's security chief, Mohsen Rezaei, said he had reviewed a letter from US Vice President JD Vance in which, he said, Washington's “tone has changed completely” — a shift he called a “very positive sign”.

The strait matters far beyond the region. It is the main exit route for Gulf crude, and its closure has squeezed tanker traffic and driven up shipping and insurance costs — costs that feed quickly into fuel prices worldwide. A reopening, even on a two-day timetable, would ease that pressure almost immediately.

The closure has already been violent: Iran has said tankers were set ablaze and hit by mines in the strait, and an oil slick from one attacked vessel reached the UAE's northern coast. Tehran has previously denied plans for direct talks with Washington even as it engaged through intermediaries.

What Tehran's conditions are has not been made public, and Washington has not yet said whether it accepts them. The test comes within the two-day window Araghchi set out: if the US response lands, tankers move; if it does not, the world's most important oil chokepoint stays shut.