Strait of Hormuz<\/a> to Gulf\u00a0shipping\u00a0within seven days if the US fulfilled Tehran\u2019s demands to ease military pressure and lift an American blockade on Iranian\u00a0ports, adding that Tehran had conveyed its latest proposal to Washington via mediators last week.<\/p>\nSecretary of State Marco Rubio told NBC\u2019s \u201cToday\u201d show the US was open to speaking with the Iranians, \u201cespecially if it has the prospects of leading to something positive and ultimately achieving the goal of what this is all about.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
But in a\u00a0combative speech\u00a0to the UN, Trump gave no sign of readiness to compromise.<\/p>\n
\u201cI call on all nations to help to enforce the complete economic isolation of Iran,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe we\u2019ll make a deal right after the election because it doesn\u2019t make sense for them not to. They\u2019re waiting to see how I do in the\u00a0midterm election.\u201d<\/p>\n
IRAN SEES \u2018GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY\u2019 TO REVIVE DIPLOMACY<\/p>\n
The senior Iranian official had earlier told Reuters that the US should \u201cannounce that it wants to resolve the issue diplomatically, make that official, and then agree on a timeline.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe UN General Assembly is a golden opportunity for the US to return to diplomacy,\u201d the official said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
No face-to-face meetings between Iran and the United States are known to have taken place since July, when an agreement on an interim deal to end the war collapsed weeks after it was signed.<\/p>\n
In a reminder of Iran\u2019s firm position so far, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, who headed Iran\u2019s negotiating team at previous talks, said Iran would never surrender: \u201cTrump must understand that he cannot impose his power on the Iranian people and its armed forces.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump was due to meet on Tuesday with leaders of the six Gulf Arab states: Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.<\/p>\n
All are keen to restore\u00a0shipping\u00a0through the Strait of Hormuz, the conduit for a fifth of global oil and gas shipments before the war, but wary of giving their longstanding rival Iran too much power.<\/p>\n
All apart from Oman also host huge US military bases that have come under repeated Iranian attack throughout the war.<\/p>\n
The biggest of them, Saudi Arabia, has been drawn deeper into the war this month, as Houthi fighters aligned to Iran have advanced in Yemen, routing forces of a Saudi-backed government and threatening Saudi oil exports through the Red Sea.<\/p>\n
There was some relief on oil markets on Tuesday, after sources told Reuters that Saudi Arabia had restarted operations at its\u00a0East-West Pipeline\u00a0and could resume exports within hours, albeit at reduced volume, from the Red Sea\u00a0port\u00a0of Yanbu.\u00a0O\/R<\/p>\n
The pipeline, Saudi Arabia\u2019s main alternative route for exports to bypass wartime disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, had been shut down after attacks this month that Riyadh blamed on Iranian allies in Iraq.\u00a0O\/R<\/p>\n
SAUDIS SEEK US SUPPORT\u00a0AGAINST HOUTHIS<\/p>\n
The Houthis have driven back Saudi-supported government forces along the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at its mouth, and have attacked Saudi Arabia directly with missiles and drones. The fighters are now pushing to seize the\u00a0strategic heights\u00a0of the Kahboub Mountains that overlook the Red Sea coast.<\/p>\n
The US, which bombed the Houthis for two months last year, has so far rebuffed repeated pleas from Saudi Arabia\u2019s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to rejoin the fight. The New York Times reported that Trump called off US strikes against the Houthis on Sunday at the last minute, after troops had already begun loading bombs onto planes.<\/p>\n
Asked why Washington had held back from striking the Houthis, Rubio said: \u201cUltimately, if it comes down to it, the United States will always stand with Saudi Arabia and support\u00a0them because we have an agreement with them to do so.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat said, that is a very dangerous and complex conflict that pre-exists \u2026 We have a history with the Houthis as well, and that\u2019s something we don\u2019t want to see impacted either.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the table at the Gulf states\u2019\u00a0meeting with Trump\u00a0is a Qatari proposal for a framework to bring Iran and the Arab Gulf states into a common security architecture, regional sources said. One source said Iran was reviewing the proposal.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the Qatar Economic Forum in New York on Sunday, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said any such arrangement would need to provide security guarantees for the Gulf states and expand economic interdependence with Iran.<\/p>\n
\u201cLasting security cannot be built through repeated cycles of escalations and retaliation, or arrangements that leave any state permanently exposed to insecurity,\u201d Sheikh Mohammed said.<\/p>\n
(Reporting by Reuters Gulf bureaux;Writing by Peter Graff and Kevin Liffey; Editing by Gareth Jones, Alexandra Hudson)<\/p>\n
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2026. <\/p>\n
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