Iran says Washington has responded to Gulf ceasefire plan

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U.S. responds to Iran proposal

Highlights

Iran has received a U.S. response to its proposal.
U.S. forces have completed their withdrawal from Iraq.
Brent and WTI prices fell on Thursday.

The Iranian proposal calls for Washington to lift its blockade of Iranian ports and for Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days. Reuters reported that Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi had conveyed the U.S. response to the Iranian government after Qatari mediators held separate contacts with the two sides.

Negotiations remain unresolved

The contents of the U.S. response have not been disclosed. President Donald Trump said Sunday that he had rejected Tehran’s proposal, while Araqchi subsequently said Iran had not received a formal rejection at that point. An official briefed on the negotiations told Reuters that the sides broadly agree on steps required for an agreement but remain divided over their sequence.

The talks concern an interim agreement reached in June that later collapsed. Qatar resumed shuttle diplomacy during the U.N. General Assembly in New York last week, the first proximity talks between U.S. and Iranian representatives since that agreement broke down. Iran continues to seek control over the Strait of Hormuz under any eventual settlement.

Shipping through Hormuz has increased in recent weeks, although crude, refined-product, and natural-gas flows remain disrupted. Before the war, roughly one-fifth of global oil passed through the waterway.

U.S. completes withdrawal from Iraq

The last U.S. troops left Iraq on Wednesday under an agreement reached by Washington and Baghdad in 2024. The withdrawal closes the latest chapter of an American military presence that began with the 2003 invasion and resumed in 2014 during the campaign against the Islamic State.

Iran and allied Iraqi armed groups portrayed the departure as a strategic success. The withdrawal also removes a U.S. military presence that had served as a counterweight to Tehran-aligned groups operating inside Iraq, while Washington continues to confront Iran elsewhere in the region.

Oil market reflects the stakes in Hormuz talks

The negotiations have immediate consequences for energy markets because any agreement would determine whether shipping through the Strait of Hormuz can return toward normal levels. Iran has proposed reopening the waterway within seven days if the U.S. lifts its blockade of Iranian ports, while crude and fuel shipments through the strait remain disrupted.

At the same time, alternative supply routes are easing some of that pressure. Saudi Arabia has resumed tanker loadings from Yanbu after restarting its East-West Pipeline, and Middle East crude exports are moving closer to pre-war levels. Fuel supplies, particularly gasoline, have recovered more slowly.

That improvement in crude flows pushed oil lower Thursday despite the lack of a breakthrough between Washington and Tehran. Brent was trading at $97.11 a barrel, down 0.80%, while WTI stood at $89.51, down 0.91%, according to the latest prices shown in market data.

We have previously highlighted that Hormuz remains central as U.S.-Iran talks resume.

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