Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says Tehran and Qatar have reached a plan under which the Strait of Hormuz would reopen within two days, provided the United States meets Iran's conditions. Araghchi told Al Jazeera on 31 October that the proposal, discussed with Qatari mediators, would shorten an earlier five-day implementation period suggested by Qatar to two days, and that Iranian negotiators arrived in Doha on 31 October after Qatari mediators spent the previous day in Tehran.

The conditions, as described by Araghchi, include lifting sanctions imposed after the Islamabad memorandum, reducing US military deployments in the region, restoring oil export exemptions and releasing frozen Iranian funds, including money held in Qatar. The proposal also addresses routes Iran has discussed with Oman, while nuclear terms raised by mediators would be reviewed in a second phase. The plan's implementation still depends on a response from Washington, and no agreement has been announced: it is a proposal under discussion, not a deal.

Why the strait matters to oil markets

The narrow strait, through which a significant share of the world's oil trade passes, has faced months of disruption tied to the regional war, with tanker traffic at times grinding to a near-complete halt. The proposal's outcome matters to oil markets because its conditions address both shipping access through the strait and Iran's own oil exports. Washington has previously rejected joint Iranian-Omani management of the waterway, insisting on free passage under international law, and President Donald Trump has said negotiations are going fine but that he is not rushing to reach an agreement. Until a response arrives, the two-day timetable remains conditional on terms the United States has not yet accepted.