The Iranian foreign minister arrived back in Islamabad on Sunday evening after a brief stop in Oman, carrying Tehran’s latest proposal to end the war: open the Strait of Hormus first, delay nuclear talks.
Abbas Araghtschi’s return to Pakistan follows a pattern of shuttle diplomacy that has seen him travel between Islamabad, Muscat and now Moscow, where he is expected to meet President Vladimir Putin on Monday. The Kremlin confirmed the meeting will grab place but offered no further details, underscoring Russia’s role as Tehran’s primary diplomatic backer while avoiding direct military involvement in the conflict with the United States.
The proposal, first reported by Axios and relayed through Pakistani intermediaries, calls for an immediate lifting of the U.S.-led naval blockade that has choked Iranian oil exports. In return, Washington would defer negotiations over Iran’s uranium enrichment program to a later date — a sequence Tehran believes could bypass internal divisions within its leadership over how far to concede on the nuclear issue.
For the Trump administration, accepting such a deal would undermine two core objectives of its Iran strategy: dismantling Tehran’s stockpile of enriched uranium and securing a verifiable pause on future enrichment. Both goals were cited by the president himself in a Fox News interview, where he warned that blocking oil flow through global systems risks causing pipelines to “explode from within” within three days if storage capacity is exceeded.
Trump signaled on Sunday that he intends to maintain the blockade, hoping continued pressure will compel Tehran to negotiate. Yet his administration appears divided, with an insider telling Axios that the White House national security team will convene on Monday to assess the stalled talks and consider next steps — a meeting the president is expected to attend alongside his top foreign policy advisers.
The irony is not lost on observers: Iran’s offer to open the strait — a move that would ease global energy markets — arrives precisely as Trump frames the blockade as a lever to force concessions on nuclear activity. By accepting the humanitarian and economic relief of reopened shipping lanes without demanding immediate nuclear concessions, Washington might accelerate a ceasefire but weaken its long-term position in any future agreement.
This approach echoes past diplomatic pivots where immediate crisis management superseded structural concerns. In 2015, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action similarly prioritized verifiable limits on enrichment over broader regional behavior, trading temporary stability for long-term uncertainty — a dynamic now repeating as both sides seek an off-ramp from confrontation without resolving the underlying dispute.
Why is Iran proposing to open the Strait of Hormus before discussing its nuclear program?
Tehran believes delaying nuclear talks could help it reach a deal faster, as its leadership remains divided on what concessions to make regarding uranium enrichment.
How would accepting Iran’s offer affect Donald Trump’s stated goals in the conflict?
Agreeing to open the strait first would weaken Trump’s ability to achieve two key objectives: eliminating Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile and securing a halt to future enrichment efforts.
