West Asia tensions: Iran hands 7 terms to US via Qatar, warns of all-out war if Trump rejects deal

In a high-stakes diplomatic move, Tehran has conveyed seven conditions to Washington via Qatari mediators to restart negotiations aimed at halting ongoing hostilities, while simultaneously issuing a stark ultimatum of military escalation if its terms are turned down.  

Iran will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until its conditions are met and US commitments are implemented, parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said on September 20, according to the Fars news agency. Iran must both fight and negotiate, Qalibaf said, adding that Tehran would use military force to push back its enemies and diplomacy to consolidate battlefield gains when the time is right.

Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, confirmed that the proposal was delivered to the United States through Doha. Addressing the core demands, Rezaei publicly identified three key prerequisites: an immediate end to the war on all fronts, the release of frozen Iranian financial assets, and an immediate lifting of the US naval blockade.  

“We remain in contact with the mediator Qatar, which has conveyed our conditions to Washington with the aim of ending the war. We are awaiting President Trump's response,” Rezaei said.  

Washington has yet to issue an official public response to the seven conditions.

In a statement published online, Rezaei emphasised that Washington must recognise Tehran’s terms to avoid further escalation. “Iran has announced 7 conditions for starting any negotiations to the US government. Tehran's message is clear and unambiguous; if Washington wants to escape the quagmire it has created for itself and avoid getting further entangled in it, it has no choice but to accept Iran's rights and conditions,” he wrote.  

He added: “It is in Washington's interest to accept these conditions. Trump's threats will not achieve any results. We are prepared for a decisive war.”  

Houthis warn Pakistan, Turkey against intervention  

The diplomatic overtures come amid a rapidly deteriorating security landscape across the broader region. Adding to the tension, Yemen’s Houthi movement issued a blunt warning to Pakistan and Turkey, threatening direct military retaliation if either country deploys troops to assist Saudi Arabia or joins the coalition against them.  

Houthi official Mohammed Al-Bukhaiti warned that any military involvement by Islamabad or Ankara in support of Riyadh would be met with severe force. "We'll strike them with an iron fist. Just as we are disciplining Saudi Arabia, we'll discipline them too," Al-Bukhaiti declared, responding to recent discussions between Pakistan, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia regarding regional defense backing and the potential activation of joint security arrangements.  

Despite the diplomatic outreach via Qatar and secondary mediation efforts involving Pakistan, Iranian national security officials cautioned that the threat of renewed US military strikes remains "very much on the cards."

Rezaei noted that Iranian military units have restructured operational plans across regional waters — focusing on US naval assets stretching from the Persian Gulf through the Gulf of Oman into the Arabian Sea. He also disclosed that Iranian forces recently test-fired a multi-warhead anti-ship missile in close proximity to an American naval vessel.  

Should hostilities widen, Tehran warned that subsequent retaliatory strikes could target American military installations across the Middle East, along with US commercial interests and operating companies.  

On the nuclear front, Rezaei stated that while Iran’s nuclear doctrine remains bound by a religious decree prohibiting non-peaceful arms, continued US pressure could force Tehran to reconsider its participation in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).