Iran Floats Two-Day Hormuz Reopening as Trump Says Talks Are 'Going Fine'

Iran's foreign minister says Tehran has reached a plan with Qatari mediators to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within two days, provided the US meets Iran's conditions. Abbas Araghchi delivered the word directly to Al Jazeera. President Trump's verdict on the diplomacy so far was blunt and brief: the talks are going fine. Iran's security chief Mohsen Rezaei called the latest US letter a sign of a changed tone and a very positive sign.

Rezaei says Tehran laid out seven conditions back in September, though he only described some of them on the record. Araghchi filled in more detail in his remarks to Al Jazeera. Earlier, Rezaei had also demanded an end to the US naval blockade of Iranian ports and to what Tehran calls American interference in its internal affairs. The seven-day version of the Hormuz reopening plan has now been compressed to two.

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei ordered Iran to respond to any threat immediately and without geographical limitations. Crisis Group senior Iran analyst Hamidreza Azizi called that the most important development of the day, writing on X that it signals a shift toward a more offensive posture. Azizi noted the order landed as Rezaei confirmed receiving a letter from Vance and as Araghchi floated the shortened reopening timeline. In his read, diplomacy and military preparation are now running on parallel tracks.

Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute, told Al Jazeera he sees a glimmer of hope on the US-Iran front for the first time in months. After weeks on the brink of war, he said, any movement away from escalation is welcome, crediting Trump with a more realistic stance at the negotiating table. The next 48 hours will likely be decisive, Parsi said, and he warned that Israel may try to derail the process.

Meanwhile the shooting hasn't stopped. Houthi-affiliated Al Masirah TV reported that the Saudi-led coalition hit an oil facility in the Bajil district of western Hodeidah governorate with two raids, wounding at least three civilians; the coalition had no immediate comment. Separately, Switzerland-based AURORAH GeoSignal Intelligence said it examined 40 Houthi missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia between July 1 and October 19 and found Russian government and military satellites observing the target areas before and after every one. Firm founder Nawaf Obaid told Al Jazeera the finding points to Russian geospatial and signals intelligence backing the Iranian-led intelligence architecture aiding Houthi operations in Yemen.

Elsewhere in the region and beyond: London's Metropolitan Police arrested more than 100 protesters outside the US embassy demonstrating against the proscription of Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation. In the occupied West Bank town of Beita, Palestinian farmers pick olives at 5am, barricade roads with stones and keep watch for Israeli settlers, with more than 200 settler attacks recorded since September.