Iran's response on Sunday held that the American reply to its seven-point list of conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz did not meet the threshold required, with unresolved matters cited by officials as talks aimed at ending the conflict entered a period of fresh uncertainty.
Iranian state media reported that Mohsen Rezaei, who holds the post of secretary of the Supreme National Security Council as well as the role of security chief, characterised the reply from Washington as falling short of what was needed. Rezaei conveyed that seven conditions had been put before the American side, and that access through the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed to them — with any talks likewise off the table — for as long as those conditions went unmet, while also noting that the broader negotiating process awaited greater clarity from the United States on unresolved points.
A statement from him noted that talks with the Americans had moved past the response stage, with the other side having accepted certain conditions put forward while leaving others without clear resolution.
The impasse risks extending uncertainty over the contested waterway, through which roughly one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments had moved before armed conflict broke out in late February following attacks on Iran by the United States and Israel. Qatari intermediaries, who have been carrying communications back and forth between the two parties as part of a broader push to halt the conflict and restore freedom of movement at sea, delivered the reply from the American side.
A trust-building aim and the expansion of a June interim memorandum of understanding were cited by Iranian officials as the goals behind the proposal. Provisions covering the Strait of Hormuz and Iran's nuclear programme were woven into the deal, which also brought a temporary halt to hostilities. According to a person with knowledge of the talks, the core dispute that had emerged by last week centred not on the plan's underlying content but on the sequence in which its proposed steps would be carried out.
Iran's position, as conveyed through official statements, held that any negotiation over its nuclear programme fell outside the scope of the ongoing efforts to reopen the strait. Tehran's position, as conveyed by Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei, held that the American proposals offered little departure from stances Washington had previously advanced, with the nuclear file drawing particular attention in that assessment. The statement identified the Strait of Hormuz and the restoration of order there as the foremost concern at that point in time.
Baghaei pushed back on reports that Tehran had put IAEA inspections on the table as a bargaining chip for sanctions relief, stating that Iran had not entered into any nuclear talks with Washington. Disagreement over the nuclear programme has persisted as an unresolved issue in the relationship between the two nations. Negotiations over Iran's nuclear programme have placed the two governments at an impasse, with each side holding firm to positions the other has found unworkable.
On 4 October, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, in his capacity as parliament speaker, stated that the strait would not be opened to the United States until Tehran had met seven conditions he described as grounded in the Islamabad memorandum of understanding. His position held that extending diplomatic engagement while conditions remained weighted toward one side was no longer tenable.
Speaking at a Saturday event in Clarksville, Tennessee, President Trump told the gathered crowd that Iran appeared to be pulling back from its earlier position, while also raising the possibility that the country could take additional steps before the 3 November midterm elections in a manner that might influence the result, noting that Tehran had been, in his words, growing quieter. He predicted that the opposing side would take additional steps before the election in an attempt to cause harm, while expressing confidence that the matter could be brought to a swift resolution. Speaking to reporters, he contended that the other party had shown little regard for the concessions he had made on their behalf.
Before the midterm elections, statements from the president had indicated that no attack on Iran was being planned, with the reasoning given that dialogue between Washington and Tehran was moving in a constructive direction. In a Thursday post on X, Trump stated that existing restrictions on trade with Iran would hold even as talks continued, and that no military action against Iran was planned before 3 November, describing the ongoing exchanges with Tehran as productive.
He repeated his stance that Iran would not be permitted to develop nuclear weapons, while Araghchi, serving as Iran's foreign minister, indicated that Tehran stood ready to return to armed conflict should the United States step away from diplomatic negotiations. Addressing foreign ambassadors and diplomats gathered in Tehran on Sunday, Araghchi conveyed Iran's preference for a negotiated path with the United States while indicating that any return to military action would be met with a prepared response, noting in his remarks that the country stood in a stronger position to act in its own defence than at any prior point.
On Sunday, military spokesman Mohammad Akraminia conveyed to a television news outlet that Iran's missile capabilities would be extended in terms of reach.
