Iranian Parliament Speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has delivered one of Tehran’s clearest messages yet to Washington:

The United States has recently sent new proposals through an intermediary — despite presenting a different picture publicly — but Iran will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until its seven conditions are fulfilled.

Ghalibaf’s message was blunt:

the period of dragging out negotiations while imposing unilateral American demands is over.

This matters because Hormuz is now Iran’s strongest negotiating card. Before the war, roughly one-fifth of global oil and LNG trade passed through this strategic waterway. Washington therefore needs an agreement not merely for diplomacy with Tehran, but to restore stability to global energy markets.

According to reporting on Tehran’s demands — whose exact seven-point formulation has not been officially published by Iran — they reportedly include lifting the maritime blockade, restoring frozen Iranian assets, removing restrictions on Iranian oil exports, ending US military pressure, ending attacks against Iran and its regional allies, withdrawing US forces from Iran’s vicinity, and compensation/security guarantees.

These demands broadly reflect commitments already contained in the June Islamabad Memorandum, which included ending military operations, lifting the US naval blockade, sanctions relief, access to frozen funds, negotiations over a reconstruction package of at least $300 billion, and eventual US force withdrawal from Iran’s proximity.

The important geopolitical shift is this:

Washington is no longer negotiating while holding all the leverage.

Iran is effectively saying: security in Hormuz will return only when Iranian security is also guaranteed.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi says Tehran’s proposal could restore normal passage through the strait within seven days if Washington accepts the required commitments. Iran’s Foreign Ministry also insists that, at this stage, Tehran is discussing Hormuz — not reopening nuclear negotiations under American pressure.

For Washington, the choice is increasingly clear: reach a reciprocal political settlement — or continue a confrontation in which the cost is no longer paid by Iran alone.