Iran says contacts over ending war continue after talks finish with no breakthrough
Contacts between Iran and the United States to end their eight-month war are continuing, Tehran said on Monday, after days of talks between Iranian officials and Qatari mediators ended with revised proposals but no breakthrough.
“Consultations through mediators are very intensive. We have presented our conditions and proposals, and everything depends on the political rationality of Washington,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in comments carried by state news agency IRNA.
As fears grew that the conflict could reignite after Tuesday’s US midterm elections, China and Russia on Monday spoke out against the prospect of renewed military action in a war that has hit the global economy.
Iranian sources see US attack as more likely than deal
Oil prices fell nearly 4% on Monday on hopes that the latest round of mediation could lead to a diplomatic solution. However, Iranian sources said they believed a new US attack remained more likely than a deal.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the plan Tehran submitted in September to end the war remained the focus of discussions. He also confirmed Araqchi’s remarks on Saturday that the proposal could be shortened.
“The basis of dialogue and talks between Iran and the US via mediators is still Iran’s seven-step proposal, which is now condensed, making it possible to implement it within two days,” Baghaei said.
US President Donald Trump rejected the seven-step proposal in September.
The plan calls for the US to lift its blockade of Iranian ports, Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Washington to waive restrictions on Iranian oil sales and cancel new sanctions on Iran, followed by talks on other issues.
Baghaei said shortening the plan would not change Iran’s position that talks on its nuclear programme could resume only after Tehran had verified that all its conditions had been met.
Asked whether the possibility of transferring Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium to another country had been raised during the talks, and whether Tehran might agree to such a move, Baghaei said it had not.
An official briefed on the talks said Iran’s negotiators had left on Sunday, but not because of any problems with the discussions. The official added that a draft proposal was being circulated but gave no further details.
Qatari mediators travelled to Tehran on Monday night for talks with Araqchi on a version of the draft US-Iran deal that has been under negotiation for the past eight days, an official briefed on the discussions said.
Russian and Chinese concerns
Trump said on Monday that Iran wanted to reach a deal to end the war and that an agreement “could happen”. He did not immediately provide further details.
The war, launched by the US and Israel on February 28, has led Iran to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz, prompted a US blockade of Iranian ports and triggered repeated Iranian drone and missile attacks on Gulf states, as well as renewed conflict in Yemen.
Trump has repeatedly said there would be no new attack on Iran before Tuesday’s midterm elections. Iran has warned that it would respond forcefully to any renewed attack, with plans to strike targets both inside and outside the Middle East.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Monday that all parties to the conflict should focus on political solutions rather than resort to arms again. He made the remarks after meeting senior Iranian security official Ali Bagheri Kani in Beijing.
China, a major buyer of energy products from the Gulf, is stepping up its diplomatic engagement in the Middle East this week. It is hosting Omani Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said, whose country borders the southern side of the Strait of Hormuz.
Wang also met Saudi Arabia’s National Security Adviser Musaed bin Mohammed al-Aiban in Beijing on Monday. China’s Foreign Ministry said all sides should work to safeguard regional energy supplies and shipping routes.
In Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry said reports of possible new military action against Iran were a cause for extreme concern and called for greater diplomatic efforts.
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone with Iran’s top security official, Mohsen Rezaei, on Monday, Iranian state media reported.
Highlighting the risks to global energy supplies, a Qatari liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker was struck by unidentified objects in the Gulf on Friday, its operator Nakilat said on Sunday.
Attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf and Red Sea have been common during the conflict, but strikes on LNG carriers have been rare. The last reported incident involving a Qatari tanker occurred in early July.