The United States has described its latest mediated contacts with Iran as “positive and constructive”, offering a cautiously upbeat assessment as Washington considers Tehran’s proposal for a rapid diplomatic process tied to the Strait of Hormuz.
A US official said discussions were continuing through mediators. The comments stop short of saying that Washington has accepted Iran’s proposal or that an agreement is close, but they provide a clearer indication that diplomatic channels remain active.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said Tehran submitted a seven-day roadmap through intermediaries under which the Strait of Hormuz could reopen and negotiations with the United States could begin if Washington accepts the plan and takes the required initial steps.
Mediated channel remains active
The US assessment is significant because the current contacts are being conducted through intermediaries rather than presented as conventional direct negotiations between Washington and Tehran.
The White House has not announced agreement on the terms put forward by Iran. Washington has also maintained that it is not under pressure to rush into a settlement, leaving a gap between the existence of constructive contacts and the much more difficult task of reaching an agreement.
Tehran’s proposal includes demands relating to the US naval blockade of Iranian ports, sanctions affecting Iranian oil sales, frozen Iranian assets and a wider cessation of hostilities. Iran says that, after acceptance of the plan, initial steps could be completed within several days before Hormuz reopens and negotiations on a final agreement begin.
The United States has not publicly endorsed that timetable.
Diplomacy without a breakthrough
The latest language nevertheless marks an important diplomatic signal after months in which military pressure, sanctions and disputes over the Strait of Hormuz have dominated relations between the two countries.
Mediators have sought to keep communication open while both sides maintain positions that remain difficult to reconcile. Qatar has been among the countries involved in transmitting messages as officials gather around the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The distinction between active diplomacy and an agreed settlement remains important. A description of talks as positive or constructive does not establish that Washington has accepted Iran’s conditions, that the strait will reopen on Tehran’s proposed timetable or that a broader ceasefire has been secured.
For now, the US comments show that the diplomatic channel remains in use and that Iran’s proposal is being discussed. The next substantive development will depend on whether Washington formally responds to the plan and whether the two sides can translate mediated contacts into agreed steps.