Iran says U.S. replied on Hormuz plan; sequencing still blocks deal
Iran said Wednesday it got a U.S. reply on its Hormuz plan through Qatar. Both sides still disagree on who moves first, and ships in the strait remain at risk.
Iran said Wednesday it had received a United States response to its latest proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and revive a collapsed Gulf ceasefire track, days after President Donald Trump said he had rejected the plan. An Iranian government spokesperson wrote on X that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi conveyed a U.S. response to the Iranian government. Iran International and The Washington Times reported Araghchi presented that feedback at Wednesday’s cabinet meeting after Qatari mediators briefed him in Doha on Tuesday while he returned from New York United Nations week.
An official briefed on the talks who is not Iranian told Reuters the sides largely agree on the steps needed but disagree on sequencing — the order in which each side would act. Straits Times/Reuters accounts describe a seven-day trust-building outline aimed at returning to an enhanced version of the June memorandum of understanding that briefly calmed the conflict and covered maritime passage plus nuclear steps. Qatar has shuttled messages since proximity talks on the UN sidelines last week. Trump publicly rejected Tehran’s weekend seven-day Hormuz package; Iranian officials had said they still awaited a formal channel reply until this week’s Doha briefing.
Diplomacy has not quieted the waterway. Britain’s UK Maritime Trade Operations reported ships hit by projectiles the previous day, and Iran International separately noted a tanker strike under investigation. Commercial flows through Hormuz remain substantially disrupted even as some shippers accept higher fees to transit. Trump told reporters Iran would eventually “give up,” while Iranian officials continue to tie any reopen to U.S. moves on the naval blockade and related sanctions demands — the same order-of-steps fight mediators are trying to bridge.
Where things stand: a reply has been conveyed through Doha, not a signed reopen. The full public text of Washington’s response has not been disclosed. Tehran is digesting sequencing feedback in cabinet; Washington’s public line remains hard on broad relief without nuclear traction. Watch whether Qatar can narrow the order dispute into a publishable timetable, whether UKMTO incident reports escalate, and whether either capital shifts from private feedback to verified steps on the water. Treat cabinet briefings and mediator relays as movement, not a ceasefire.
Where outlets agree Reuters-syndicated desks, CNN Arabic, and Washington Times report Iran has received a U.S. reply via Qatar on the seven-day Hormuz/trust-building track, with sequencing and shipping risk still unresolved.
Where they differ Iranian officials present the reply as received and under cabinet review; Trump says Iran will eventually “give up”; channel sources say the fight is over the order of steps, not the plan’s components — and the full U.S. text is not public.