A blockade and a back channel are moving at once—and neither side is showing its full hand. If you're just joining us, the U.S.-Iran track has moved to mediator-led talks over war-ending terms, the Strait of Hormuz, and the U.S. naval blockade. Before we came on, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas had met Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi at the UN General Assembly, while Trump said Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner had met with an Iranian delegation. This is Iran War Daily. Today: the terms on the table, the ships caught in the middle, and whether anybody in Tehran can actually deliver a deal. We're staying with this story: US-Iran deal negotiations. Follow the show and you won't miss what comes next. Here's Iran International:
He also made clear that while Iran welcomed negotiations, it would not yield to coercion or what he described as Trump's “bullying.”
CENTCOM’s latest count is 115 commercial vessels redirected as of September 23—six more than the 109 it reported two days earlier. Every diversion comes with a freight bill, a fuel bill, and a war-risk premium. And that’s CENTCOM’s operational count, not an estimate of ships choosing to avoid the area. It says 115 vessels were redirected under U.S. blockade enforcement. Washington can call that pressure. The cargo owners and importers getting rerouting invoices will call it something less elegant. That count rose as Iran’s civilian diplomats signaled openness to talks at the UN, while Tehran’s internal fight over who could conduct those talks spilled into public view. Iran International writes:
Baghaei said Tehran clearly conveyed its conditions for reviving diplomacy, including an end to the US naval blockade and “economic terrorism,” an end to the war on all fronts, the release of frozen or restricted Iranian assets and acceptance of a safe shipping route under an agreement between the two coastal states.
The U.S.-Iran track has moved again. Tehran says Qatar carried a two-hour exchange at the UN, and Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei says Iran formally conveyed its terms. Iran’s terms start with ending the U.S. naval blockade and the war on every front. That’s a very steep entry price for anything called revived diplomacy. Baghaei also listed frozen Iranian assets and a safe-shipping arrangement between the two coastal states. Tehran has stated those conditions, but we have not seen the U.S. accept them. And as messages moved through Qatar, SNSC secretary Mohsen Rezaei was warning neighboring states about Iranian flights and future U.S. action. Tough to sell a regional off-ramp while warning airports they may stop operating. From Thomas Watkins at The National:
State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said the Trump administration is compounding pressure on Iran through the Treasury Department's Economic Outcast campaign and the US military's efforts to block Iranian oil shipments. "The President holds all of the cards here, and is continuing to ramp up the pressure," he said.
Tommy Pigott says President Trump “holds all the cards,” while Steve Witkoff says the contact ran through mediators. But the accounts differ on its basic shape: Trump described three hours; Iran’s Foreign Ministry described a two-hour Qatar-mediated exchange. And State calls oil-shipment interdictions “compounding pressure,” as if that phrase makes the cost disappear. We just heard CENTCOM’s count: 115 commercial vessels redirected. Pressure has a bill, and it lands well beyond Tehran. Pigott also says Washington’s objective is preventing an Iranian nuclear weapon, one way or another. That is the stated U.S. position; neither side has announced an agreement from these mediated contacts. Iran International writes:
A military adviser to Iran's supreme leader said the government has room to deal with Washington, and within hours a lawmaker and Guards-affiliated outlets condemned reported contact with it. The split surfaced as the Guards were reported to be directly engaged in Yemen.
Pezeshkian’s team is in New York talking through Qatar, and back home a lawmaker is calling Araghchi’s contact with Steve Witkoff a sign of weakness. That channel has a domestic ambush waiting for it. Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi matters here: he’s a Khamenei adviser saying the government has room to negotiate, and tying that latitude explicitly to the Supreme Leader’s judgment. But Rezaei pushed back within hours, joined by Tasnim and Fars. Approval at the top has not produced a unified public line. And the split matters beyond speeches. Iran International places it alongside reports of Guards personnel directly engaged with the Houthis on Yemen’s Red Sea coast. Washington may be talking to one authorized delegation while another power center keeps widening the fight. Safavi says he hopes Supreme National Security Council decisions can prevent another war. Now we’ll see whether that council can discipline the hardliners publicly challenging the contact it appears to have allowed. Here's Al Arabiya English:
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) spokesman Hossein Mohebi said on Tuesday that Iran had hardened its conditions for ending the war with the United States following the collapse of a June deal, adding Washington now had “no choice” but to accept its demands.
Hossein Mohebi put a price tag on Iran’s terms: $24 billion in frozen assets, up front, before negotiations. That blows past any phased-release argument—Washington would have to hand over the money first. And Mohebi was speaking to AFP for the Revolutionary Guard, not announcing a jointly agreed position. He says the June memorandum collapsed after mutual accusations of violations; neither side has publicly accepted responsibility for it. The two-hour Qatar-mediated exchange we just covered conveyed Iran’s terms, and then the Guard goes public with an upfront $24 billion demand. Efficient way to turn diplomacy into a cashier’s window. That sharpens the split inside Tehran. A Khamenei adviser sees room for a deal; Mohebi says Iran has hardened its conditions since June. Those are competing signals from identifiable Iranian power centers on the same day. Have feedback, story ideas, or a correction? Email us at iranwardaily at lantern podcasts dot com. Your notes help make Iran War Daily more useful.
We’re watching the November 3 U.S. midterm elections, the next political marker Trump tied to a possible deal timeline. Links to every story are in the show notes, so take a look at the ones you want to read more closely. That’s Iran War Daily for today. We’ll be back tomorrow. This is a Lantern Podcast.