Iran’s president says the country will reopen the Strait of Hormuz after seven days if the US agrees to Tehran’s conditions, and he wants talks about the war and the nuclear program to start at that point. Masoud Pezeshkian made the offer during a Sept. 27 interview on CBS’s Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan, recorded on Sept. 25.
Pezeshkian said the process would begin from the very day the US agrees to the proposal. The proposal was presented by Iran’s foreign minister through mediators, and it refers to an MOU — memorandum of understanding — signed in Pakistan that both presidents signed.
The Deal That Fell Apart
The MOU was signed back in June, but it fell apart over disagreement on shipping lanes and the IRGC firing on ships taking an unauthorized route. Pezeshkian said the request in the memorandum was broken down into stages for proceeding, and that the deviation from the agreement could have been resolved through dialogue but turned into the breakdown of the understanding instead.
He said waiting a month would not have been difficult and the path would have reopened automatically according to the understanding. The routes were supposed to be determined between Iran and Oman with their coordination, but ships failed to coordinate.
“Iran remains committed to the MOU and willing to implement it despite problems arising along the way,” Pezeshkian said.
Who Broke the Deal
Pezeshkian argued that the distrust between Iran and the US developed because the US tore up the JCPOA agreement after reaching an understanding. He cited multiple rounds of talks where the US bombed Iran, martyred commanders and scientists, attacked a school killing around 168 innocent children, and destroyed infrastructure.
Each time Iran resumed talks with the US after taking responsibility, the US broke the understanding again. Pezeshkian said Iran does not know what language it needs to use to resolve the distrust created by the war.
“The first thing needed is to overcome the distrust created by the war and abide by what has been written down,” he said.
The Path Forward
Pezeshkian said the US has blocked Iran’s way and Iran has blocked its own way. Both need to open up first before sitting down at the negotiating table. He also said Iran will abide by whatever it commits to if the US operates according to the framework.
The proposal is a step-by-step plan. First, the US agrees to the proposal. Seven days later, the Strait of Hormuz reopens. Then talks about ending the war and possibly the nuclear program begin.
The sequence matters. Pezeshkian said the process was interrupted due to lack of coordination, and he wants to fix that by getting both sides to agree on the next stage before moving forward.
The US Response
The interview transcript shows Pezeshkian making the offer, but it does not record any US reaction.
Pezeshkian’s account of the breakdown includes several specific claims:
- The US bombed Iran
- Commanders and scientists were martyred
- A school attack killed around 168 innocent children
- Infrastructure was destroyed
- Each round of talks ended with the US breaking the understanding
These are serious charges.
Why the Strait Matters
The proposal ties the strait’s reopening to talks about the war and the nuclear program. That means the US would not just get the strait back; it would also get Iran into negotiations on both fronts.
The interview is available to watch on cbsnews.com. The transcript shows Pezeshkian making the offer in his own words.
The offer is on the table. Pezeshkian has laid out the sequence, and the US has not yet answered. The ball is in the US court, and the clock is running.
Where the paper stands
The paper backs the deal over the standoff, and it backs the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz as a starting point for talks, while remaining skeptical of any escalation that could close those same channels again. The offer on the table is a limited one: the US agrees to the proposal, the strait reopens after seven days, and talks begin. That sequence keeps the channels open for trade, diplomacy and compromise, which is where the paper’s skepticism begins.
The paper’s skepticism is not about the offer itself, but about the history behind it. The MOU signed in June fell apart over shipping lanes and the IRGC firing on ships taking an unauthorized route, and Pezeshkian’s account of the breakdown — including the claim that the US tore up the JCPOA agreement after reaching an understanding — carries weight. The paper is not in the business of endorsing war narratives, but it notes the specific charges made by Pezeshkian: bombings, the martyrdom of commanders and scientists, a school attack killing around 168 innocent children, and the destruction of infrastructure. Each of these points raises questions about the trust between the two countries that Pezeshkian himself says must be overcome before any negotiation can succeed.
What the paper would want instead is a response from the US that does not close off those channels again. The sequence matters: the US agrees to the proposal, the strait reopens, and talks begin. That order keeps the door open for diplomacy rather than locking it shut with escalation. The paper will be watching whether the US answers the offer, and how it answers, without closing the very channels the offer seeks to reopen.
See the video the story is built around at CBS News.
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