Iran and Qatari mediators enter third day of Doha talks
Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi says a "two-day proposal" is still under discussion, with Washington's midterm elections days away.
Iranian negotiators met Qatari mediators in Doha for a third consecutive day on Sunday, an official briefed on the discussions told Reuters, in talks aimed at a deal to end the war pitting the United States and Israel against Iran, now in its eighth month.
Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, said the purpose of the "ongoing and progressing" talks was to keep consulting the Qatari mediators, and that Tehran was ready for "both defence and diplomacy". Speaking to state media, he said discussions of a "two-day proposal" were continuing but no final conclusion had been reached.
Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera quoted Araqchi as saying in an interview on Saturday that Iranian and Qatari negotiators had drawn up a proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within two days of any agreement with Washington. The waterway carries a large share of the world's seaborne oil, and the war has disrupted global supplies.
The calendar is set by US politics. President Donald Trump has said Washington will not launch new attacks on Iran before the November 3 midterm elections, and that talks with Tehran have been productive. He has not ruled out military action afterwards. Arab News framed its report on the same talks around the threat of US strikes once the vote is over.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday that Trump had not decided whether to order new strikes and would prefer to settle the conflict through diplomacy.
Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, ordered the armed forces on Saturday to be ready for any attack, and the military later announced steps to strengthen its readiness. Iranian officials have repeatedly said a new attack would be answered by strikes on US and Israeli targets in neighbouring countries.
Middle East Eye reported that an Iranian lawmaker warned of a "harsher reply than before" to new threats.
The Qatari mediators travelled to Tehran on Friday for talks with Iranian officials before the sessions moved to Doha on Saturday, an official told Reuters. The mediation was being coordinated in regular contacts with Washington, the official said.
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