Iran puts an offer to reopen Hormuz within 7 days on the table; the same day a parliamentary committee approves fines of 20% of cargo for violators

According to a senior Iranian official speaking to Kyodo, the offer was conveyed to Washington via Qatar and is subject to two conditions: the US lifting its naval blockade of Iranian ports and announcing a plan to halt military operations around the strait. As reported by The National, the proposal had been passed through mediators about 6 days earlier; President Pezeshkian left for New York on 22 September and will address the UN General Assembly on 23 September. Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei had said on 19 September that 7 conditions had been set for a return to negotiations. The Fars agency, close to the Iranian state, described the 22 September reports as unreliable and untrue; NBC News wrote that it could not independently verify the offer.

There are two separate signals from the US side. President Trump said US and Iranian officials had talked for 3 hours on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly and that the meeting had gone very well; according to NBC, the US delegation included Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. The same day Trump also said a deal before the election did not look likely. Secretary of State Rubio said they were open to talks, while the US denied visas to several members of the Iranian delegation's communications team. There has been no official confirmation from the Iranian side of the 3-hour meeting.

Simultaneously with the offer on the table, the legal stick on the ground also hardened. As reported by Iran-based WANA, parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee approved articles 13, 14 and 15 of the Hormuz bill on 22 September and postponed article 16: a vessel violating transit rules will face a fine equal to 20% of its cargo value and temporary seizure until the fine is paid; the General Staff will submit an implementation report to parliament every 3 months. Newsquawk attributed the report at 21:32 UTC to state media outlet IRNA. According to Kpler data cited by Baird Maritime, only 2 commodity vessels transited the strait on 21 September, down from 10 the day before; the pre-war daily average was about 125 vessels. Kpler data do not cover vessels that switch off their AIS transponders.