Iran offers to reopen Hormuz within a week if U.S. lifts blockade

Iran’s military on Wednesday described U.S. President Donald Trump‘s threats to annihilate Tehran as “a sign of strategic desperation,” warning the country stands ready to inflict strikes “more crushing” than earlier in the nearly seven-month conflict.

The combative message, which was carried by Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency, accused Trump of trying to use the United Nations podium to justify aggression.

“Such words demonstrate America’s strategic dead end in its aggression against the Iranian nation, and the repetition of baseless claims and threats, given the exhaustion of the U.S. military, is not a sign of power but a sign of their strategic desperation,” Iran’s General Staff said.

Trump said during his address to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Tuesday that he faced a choice between a deal and more aggressive military action, before telling reporters that U.S. officials held a “very good” three-hour meeting with Iranian envoys on the sidelines.

“Will a deal be made with Iran? Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic, and do it quickly?” Trump said on Tuesday. He called on all nations to “enforce the complete economic isolation of Iran.”

Trump also said he expected an agreement after November’s midterm elections. “I believe we’ll make a deal right after the election, because it doesn’t make sense for them not to,” he said. “They’re waiting to see how I do in the midterm election.”

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is scheduled to speak at the UNGA later on Wednesday.

Iran has been in negotiations with the U.S. through a Qatari mediator in New York, and communicated its conditions for ending the war on all fronts, according to regional media reports.

Tehran’s conditions include a halt to what it calls U.S. “acts of aggression,” an end to the naval blockade and economic warfare, and the release of Iranian assets, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said.

The proposal laid out concrete details aimed at restoring traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which carried about a fifth of global oil and gas shipments before the war, reviving fragile hopes for a diplomatic off-ramp to the seven-month war.

Separately, a senior Iranian official said Tehran could reopen the strait within a week if the U.S. eases military pressure and lifts its blockade of Iranian ports.

Oil prices were slightly higher on Wednesday. Futures for international benchmark Brent crude were last seen 1% higher at $100.32 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures rose 0.3% to $90.88 per barrel.