DUBAI — Iran has offered to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days if the United States eases military pressure and lifts its blockade on Iranian ports, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Tuesday, raising hopes for renewed diplomacy after nearly seven months of conflict in the Middle East even as violence continued along the strait itself.

The proposal, reportedly communicated to Washington through mediators, comes as Iran's delegation to the United Nations General Assembly arrived in New York this week with what officials described as full authority to revive diplomatic talks with the United States. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian departed Tehran for New York on Tuesday morning, though he is not expected to meet directly with U.S. officials during the trip.

A senior Iranian official laid out the conditions Tehran is seeking before any reopening could take place. "The US needs to announce that it wants to resolve the issue diplomatically, make that official, and then agree on a timeline for how the process will move forward," the official told Reuters. Iran had previously outlined seven separate conditions for restarting broader talks with Washington, including the lifting of the naval blockade on its ports and the unfreezing of Iranian financial assets held abroad.

The offer follows a tense weekend in which Iran's military central command said it had been informed the United States was preparing to restart........

© International Business Times