Iran and the US remain in indirect talks through Pakistan and Qatar, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tuesday, while warning that the Strait of Hormuz will stay closed unless Washington accepts Tehran’s conditions.
Araghchi told Iraq’s Al Ekhbariya television that Iran had presented a seven-day initiative under which the strategic waterway would fully reopen on the sixth day.
He said Washington had agreed to the conditions but wanted additional provisions.
Get it: Fast, verified news for FREE ... download the Gulf News app — simply click here
“The negotiating table is still there,” Araghchi said.
“If they adhere to these conditions, they should know that the strait will be fully reopened, and after that we will hold further rounds of negotiations until a final agreement is reached.”
Iran wants the US to first fulfill all commitments under the Islamabad memorandum before moving to other issues, he said.
Araghchi denied Iranian involvement in Red Sea developments, saying they “have nothing to do with us.” He added that neither Saudi Arabia nor Yemen’s Houthis had responded to Iran’s offer to mediate their conflict.
He warned that any Egyptian intervention in Yemen would “further complicate the situation,” while stressing that diplomacy — not sanctions or military threats — was the only viable path.
Iran rules out sending enriched uranium abroad
Meanwhile, Iran’s top security official said Tuesday that no enriched uranium would leave the country, rejecting a key potential demand in negotiations with the US, according to Iranian state television and multiple outlets.
He also repeated it in an X post.
“Not a single gram of enriched uranium will be removed from Iran,” Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, wrote on X.
Speaking to visiting Pakistani Army Chief Asim Munir, Rezaei described Iran’s enriched nuclear material as a “major asset and national wealth” intended for domestic use.
He said there would be no negotiations with Washington until it took steps to build trust, beginning with the “full fulfillment of all Iran’s conditions.”
The statement signals a major obstacle to any nuclear arrangement: Iran rejects transferring its enriched uranium stockpile, while Washington has sought substantial restrictions on Iranian enrichment.
Iran’s conditions reportedly include ending the US blockade, easing oil sanctions and halting regional hostilities.
Not a single gram of enriched uranium will be removed from Iran. There will be no negotiations until the United States takes steps to build trust. That process must begin with the full fulfillment of all Iran’s conditions.
— محسن رضایی (@ir_rezaee) October 20, 2026