The latest:
Iran has restated its terms for ending more than seven months of war with the United States, demanding a halt to fighting on all fronts, an end to the naval blockade and economic pressure, and the release of Iranian assets. Foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei said the conditions were relayed through a Qatari mediator in New York, and played down the encounter as nothing new.
Details:
- The conditions: Baqaei told Iran’s official news agency IRNA that Tehran’s terms included ending the war on all fronts, lifting the naval blockade, halting what he called economic warfare, releasing frozen Iranian assets, and stopping what Tehran described as American aggressive actions.
- Tehran’s framing: Asked about the substance of the exchange, Baqaei said Iran’s positions were not new, casting the contacts as a restatement rather than a breakthrough. He said the indirect talks took place through Qatari mediators on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
- The US account: US special envoy Steve Witkoff said on X on Tuesday that American and Iranian delegations held lengthy indirect talks at the General Assembly, with mediators shuttling between the two sides all day. He said a round was completed successfully and mediators would continue their work.
- First since June: The unscheduled meeting was the first indirect contact between US and Iranian officials since the collapse of the June ceasefire. Intermittent attacks continue in the Strait of Hormuz off Iran’s coast, where commercial shipping traffic remains below pre-war levels.
- The EU track: EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said she met Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on the sidelines to discuss ending the war, the full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and internal repression in Iran, including what she called a sharp rise in executions and death sentences.
- Passage fees: Kallas wrote on X that there were no transit fees or charges before the war and there should be none after it, saying navigation must be free and unimpeded through both the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab.
- Qatari warning: Former Qatari prime minister Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr Al Thani assessed that developments appear headed toward interim arrangements on Hormuz and the wider Gulf, likely resembling earlier truces repeatedly extended without permanent agreements. He said Iran may believe waiting could create openings on both the strait and the nuclear file.
- Gulf costs: Hamad bin Jassim urged Gulf states to accept some costs and insist on a legal, lasting and clear solution guaranteeing safe passage under international law.
- Reformists push: Reformist politician Gholamhossein Karbaschi said President Masoud Pezeshkian should meet Donald Trump to help resolve Iran’s problems, following a letter from senior reformist figure Mehdi Karroubi urging the same during Pezeshkian’s New York visit if conditions allowed.
- Baku’s offer: Trump shared on Truth Social, without comment, a Newsmax interview published 14 September in which Azerbaijani presidential adviser Hikmet Hajiyev said diplomacy with Iran remains possible and that Baku could help ease regional tensions.
Background:
The June ceasefire between the United States and Iran collapsed, and fighting resumed alongside intermittent attacks in the Strait of Hormuz. Shipping through the waterway has stayed below pre-war volumes since.
Between the lines:
Two accounts of the same day sit side by side: Witkoff called the round successful, while Baqaei said Iran offered nothing new. Hamad bin Jassim’s reading — that this points to another extendable interim arrangement rather than a settlement — fits both, since old terms restated and met by continued mediation resolve neither the strait nor the nuclear file.
What’s next
Watch whether mediators convene a second round, whether Pezeshkian responds to reformist calls for a meeting with Trump, and whether shipping volumes and transit fee arrangements in the Strait of Hormuz change.
