Iranian officials engaged in three hours of discussions with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, signaling a potential shift toward easing tensions over the Strait of Hormuz blockade. U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed the meeting and indicated that further talks are expected soon. Witkoff described the initial encounter as positive, marking the first direct contact since a June memorandum of understanding was agreed upon in Switzerland between the U.S. and Iranian delegations.
A senior Iranian official, speaking from Tehran, said Iran is willing to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within a week, provided the United States reciprocates by lessening military and economic pressures—specifically, easing sanctions and halting hostile actions against Iran. This new stance reportedly softens Tehran’s earlier conditions, which included a complete cessation of the U.S. “war on all fronts” and a formal end to American aggression. The official stated that Iran’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei and the supreme national security council had endorsed this revised position. However, some Iranian media linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) refuted claims that a new government position had been established.
Throughout the UN General Assembly meetings in New York, diplomatic efforts have intensified, with Qatar facilitating backchannel discussions involving Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Nonetheless, a direct meeting between Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and President Trump appears unlikely amid heightened tensions. During Trump’s address to the assembly, most of the Iranian delegation departed the hall after he labeled Iran the “bully of the Middle East” and the world’s leading terror sponsor.
The IRGC maintained that negotiations and military actions are not mutually exclusive, a view reinforced by Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Ghalibaf, who addressed the Iranian parliament remotely. The senior Iranian official emphasized that Tehran is awaiting concrete signs from Washington about its willingness to recommence talks and ease military operations related to the strait. Should the U.S. demonstrate such intentions, Iran would be prepared to end its blockade of Iranian ports and reopen the waterway within seven days.
However, conflicting statements within Tehran reveal an internal struggle between hardliners and more pragmatic figures over the value of negotiations. Past Iranian proposals initially appeared promising but later revealed complex stipulations, deepening skepticism among observers. President Trump, during his UN speech, framed his approach as a choice between either obliterating Iran or supporting its transformation into “a great country,” expressing hope that Iran would engage more actively after U.S. midterm elections.
Despite ongoing diplomatic initiatives, substantive agreement remains distant. Any resolution is expected to require Iran and Oman to establish a new shipping route through Iranian waters in the Strait of Hormuz, a plan that Gulf states have yet to endorse. Regional actors, heavily impacted by recent blockades in the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea, continue to press for a de-escalation.
One Western diplomat described the situation as a “deadlock,” stressing the urgency of leveraging the current diplomatic platform in New York. Meanwhile, Iran faces significant economic strain as U.S. sanctions disrupt its oil exports, exacerbating currency instability and domestic inflation. The evolving negotiations underscore the fragile nature of efforts to resolve one of the most strategically sensitive maritime choke points in global energy supply.