After US-Israeli Strikes, Iran Offers Hormuz Reopening

Iran’s offer to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days remained on the table Sunday, as newly appointed Defense Minister Mehrdad Akhlaghi warned Washington would cause “enormous damage” if it resumed its military campaign against Iran.

Hormuz proposal remains open

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Iranian media that the waterway would open within six days if Washington accepted Tehran’s conditions. U.S.-Iran talks would resume on the seventh day, he said. The sequence is clear: acceptance of the conditions, reopening of the strategic waterway, then talks.

Araghchi said the offer remained available. The article provides no further details on Tehran’s conditions or any U.S. response. There’s no indication Washington has accepted the proposal.

Defense minister warns of consequences

Mehrdad Akhlaghi issued his warning shortly after parliament approved his appointment as defense minister. “People can rest assured that they will most likely not dare to attack us,” he told reporters. “If they (the US) do, they themselves and the region will suffer enormous damage.”

The remarks followed the U.S.-Israeli strikes that sparked the conflict. According to the article, those strikes began nearly eight months before Sunday. The attack on a leadership compound killed Akhlaghi’s predecessor, Aziz Nasirzadeh, on February 28, alongside former supreme leader Ali Khamenei and senior military commanders.

Parliament approved Akhlaghi after Nasirzadeh’s death. State television reported: “Members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly (parliament) today gave a vote of confidence to Mehrdad Akhlaghi, the nominee for minister of defense and armed forces logistics.”

The government website said Akhlaghi received 237 votes in favor, out of 277 votes cast. The vote came nearly eight months after the initial U.S.-Israeli strikes that sparked the conflict.

A ministry appointment at a “sensitive juncture”

Before the vote, Akhlaghi told the ISNA news agency: “If I receive parliament's vote of confidence, responsibility for the Ministry of Defense will fall to me at a sensitive juncture.” He added: “Under such circumstances, defending the country requires an accurate understanding of the environment, an understanding of the logic behind developments, the identification of influential trends, and preparedness to face different possible futures.”

Akhlaghi holds no military rank. He has worked in the defense ministry for 42 years and has headed the Iranian Defense Industries Organization, the state’s weapons manufacturer, since 2013. The United Nations sanctioned him in 2007 over his alleged involvement in nuclear or ballistic missile activities.

Tehran kept the Hormuz offer on the table as Akhlaghi took office. Under Araghchi’s account, the waterway would reopen after Washington accepted Iran’s conditions, with talks resuming the following day. Akhlaghi warned the United States and the region would face “enormous damage” if Washington renewed its military campaign.