Iran lists conditions for reopening Strait of Hormuz
The demands come as Trump says a settlement is close and Iranian officials harden their tone at the United Nations.
Published · Updated
Map: The Gulf and Hormuz, marking Strait of Hormuz
UpdateTuesday, September 22, 2026 at 7:20 PM ET
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said a nuclear-armed Iran could threaten to close the Strait of Hormuz and use that threat to deter other countries from intervening against it.
UpdateTuesday, September 22, 2026 at 3:45 PM ET
Iran's state media reports that the meeting between Steve Witkoff and Abbas Araghchi at the UN General Assembly came after repeated requests from the United States.
UpdateTuesday, September 22, 2026 at 3:40 PM ET
The White House now denies Trump's claim that another US-Iran meeting is scheduled, and Iran says the earlier deal has collapsed.
Trump says a US official met Iran's delegation for three hours in a meeting that went very well, and that Witkoff feels very good about it. But the White House has denied Trump's claims that further meetings are scheduled. Iran, for its part, describes the previous deal as collapsed and has hardened its stated conditions since then.
Iran's state media says the Strait of Hormuz will reopen only if a naval blockade is lifted immediately, frozen Iranian assets are released immediately, and the war ends "across all resistance fronts."
The conditions surface alongside a wave of diplomatic contact. Iran's foreign minister met US envoy Steve Witkoff on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, according to Iran's state media. Qatar's prime minister sat in for most of a pre-planned session between US representatives and the Iranian team led by Abbas Araghchi, according to US sources cited by Israel Hayom. The EU's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, also met Araghchi as contacts between Washington and Tehran widen.
Iran has paired that outreach with harder rhetoric. Its state media describes Tehran's negotiating conditions as strict, and the Revolutionary Guard has sharpened its language while parliament has proposed a 20% transit fine for ships passing through Hormuz. An Iranian official said Tehran is ready to escalate if attacked. Iran will also halt flights from Tehran to Baghdad and Muscat starting Wednesday, according to Tasnim, though international routes including Istanbul continue.
Trump has struck a different tone, saying Jared Kushner and Witkoff met with Iranian mediators and calling a recent session very productive, with another meeting expected soon. He has said Iran is in contact with the US and that he expects a settlement, with Iran's president already in New York and Arab mediators pushing for a direct US-Iran meeting there, though none has been scheduled. The US has separately proposed a $10 billion fund with Arab allies as a hedge if the Strait stays closed. Iran's demand to end fighting on every front it considers a resistance front sits well beyond the incremental steps those talks have suggested, and the gap between Trump's optimism and Tehran's harder line keeps the near-term odds of a deal low and geopolitical risk elevated for energy markets.