US, Iran Hold Separate Talks Through Mediators in Latest Effort to End War

US and Iranian officials held separate discussions with mediators on Monday as part of renewed efforts to end seven months of war, officials from both countries said.

Further negotiations are expected to centre on a revised version of Iran’s seven-day ceasefire proposal presented last week on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, according to an official briefed on the talks.

The conflict began in late February with US and Israeli strikes on Iran, killing thousands of people over the past seven months and disrupting global markets as key waterways for oil shipments remained restricted. The US and Iran have previously reached two ceasefire agreements through mediated talks, in April and June, but both collapsed shortly afterward.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who remained in New York after the General Assembly, said Tehran expected Washington’s response to its latest ceasefire proposal and its conditions for restoring maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported.

“If the Americans claim they are seeking an agreement or a peaceful solution, we have presented that solution,” Araghchi said.

US President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House that American officials also held discussions with mediators on Monday, but provided no further details.

Trump signals further talks this week

Iran’s seven-day proposal calls for an end to hostilities in Iran and Lebanon, the unfreezing of billions of dollars in Iranian assets, the lifting of sanctions on Iranian oil and an end to the US blockade of Iranian ports.

In return, Iran would permit the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial route for global oil shipments. The two sides would also resume negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme and Trump’s demand concerning Iran’s highly enriched uranium.

Trump said on Saturday that he had rejected Iran’s proposal, arguing that Tehran was seeking a quick agreement because of the severe economic pressure it faces. However, he told Axios on Sunday that US negotiators were expected to hold further talks this week.

Araghchi said Sunday that mediators had not formally communicated a US rejection and that Iran was waiting for Washington to state its position definitively before determining its next steps.

“Our conditions are clear, and any move toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz is contingent on these conditions being met,” he said, adding that the standoff could only be resolved through negotiations.