Iran offers to reopen Strait of Hormuz within 7 days if US eases military pressure

Iran has signaled it would reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days if the United States eases military pressure and lifts a blockade on Iranian ports, raising hopes that a critical artery for global oil shipments could soon be restored. International crude prices tumbled roughly 3 percent on the prospect.

A senior Iranian official conveyed the conditions to Washington through an intermediary on Monday (local time), according to Reuters, Kyodo News and CNBC. The official said Iran would reopen the strait within a week if the US reduced its initial military pressure and lifted the blockade on Iranian ports.

The Strait of Hormuz handles about 20 percent of the world's oil and LNG supply. As signs emerged that the blockade could be lifted, Brent crude futures for November delivery on the London ICE exchange fell 2.6 percent to $97.73 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate futures for October delivery closed down 3.1 percent at $92.40 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The offer came as President Donald Trump faces mounting domestic and international criticism over the prolonged conflict ahead of his address to the UN General Assembly in New York. The administration has left the door open to dialogue while maintaining pressure on Tehran.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appeared on CNBC and warned that the US would cut off from the dollar payment system any airline worldwide that lands in Iran, refuels there, provides landing services or sells tickets to Iranian carriers, adding that Washington could shut down Iranian airline operations as early as Wednesday. The US also imposed sanctions last week on Russia's state-owned VTB Bank to cut off Iranian funding channels.

Maritime security in the Middle East remains on a knife's edge. Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who struck sensitive facilities near Riyadh's airport over the weekend, have since seized Perim Island — a strategic chokepoint in the Red Sea — and tightened their grip on the Bab el-Mandeb strait, another key oil shipping lane. With the Houthis now controlling an alternative route around the Strait of Hormuz, Saudi Arabia's east-west oil pipeline network is also under threat.

In response, the Group of Seven issued a joint statement condemning the Houthi rebels' attacks on civilian merchant vessels and Iran's backing of the group.

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced that Royal Air Force tankers would provide aerial refueling support to Saudi air force jets, saying the UK would "support Saudi Arabia over the coming weeks to secure oil shipping lanes." Donald Trump, however, reportedly canceled a planned airstrike in response to a Saudi request for military assistance over the weekend, complicating the diplomatic calculus among the parties as they seek a path to ending the war on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.