Iran war: What’s happening on day 60 as diplomacy gathers pace?

United States President Donald Trump’s national security team is reviewing an Iranian peace proposal aimed at halting the war and reopening the Strait of Hormuz. The plan comes as Washington weighs its next steps, including delaying talks on Iran’s nuclear programme.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Saint Petersburg, saying Tehran is considering a US request to resume negotiations. The comments signal cautious movement on diplomacy despite ongoing tensions.

Meanwhile, dozens of countries have called for the “urgent and unimpeded reopening” of the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial maritime route through which one-fifth of global oil passes.

Here is what we know:

In Iran

• Iranian demands over Hormuz: A top Iranian official said his country’s armed forces would be the authority responsible for the Strait of Hormuz under a proposed national law for managing the waterway.
• Iran blames US for stalled talks: The Iranian foreign minister blamed Washington for the failure of talks after landing in Russia as part of a whirlwind diplomatic tour, with direct negotiations between the warring parties seemingly at an impasse.
• Iran accuses Washington of ‘high seas robbery’: Tehran condemned Washington’s capture of two Iran-linked oil tankers, the Majestic X and the Tifani, calling it “the outright legalisation of piracy”.
• Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said the move amounted to “armed robbery on the high seas”.

War diplomacy

• Iran FM meets Putin: President Vladimir Putin told Iran’s Foreign Minister Araghchi that Russia would do everything it could to halt the war, as the two met in Saint Petersburg.
• Envoys’ lack of Iran nuclear expertise a ‘weakness’: Critics say Trump’s negotiators, Jared Kushner, Steve Witkoff and JD Vance, rely more on loyalty and access than diplomatic experience. Former US Ambassador Gordon Gray said their closeness to Trump is an advantage, but warned their lack of familiarity with Iran’s nuclear file is a “crucial weakness”.

In the Gulf

• Gulf states align with Iran on Hormuz: Gulf nations are likely to welcome Tehran’s peace proposal to end the war without negotiating a new nuclear deal, analyst Dania Thafer says. “They have a different ordering of priorities … and it does align with Iran’s proposal of opening the Strait of Hormuz at the front of this negotiation,” she told Al Jazeera.