WorldMiddle East
Iran and US still far apart, Qatar says both are studying its proposals
Qatar's foreign ministry said talks to end the war go on and 'we cannot lose hope', as a senior Iranian official said Tehran's demands must be met before the Strait of Hormuz reopens.
Key points
- Qatar said Washington and Tehran are both reviewing the mediators' proposals and that talks will continue.
- A senior Iranian official said the two sides remain far from a deal, with Hormuz shut until Iran's demands are met.
- An official expects replies from both capitals within 36 hours, a window that runs past the US midterm vote.
Iran and the United States are still far from a deal to end their war, a senior Iranian official said on Tuesday, even as Qatar insisted that both sides were studying its proposals and that the mediation would go on.
Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said Washington and Tehran were reviewing the mediators’ proposals and that talks were continuing. “We cannot lose hope,” he said. Qatari mediators flew to Tehran on Monday night to discuss a version of a draft deal, and an official said feedback from both capitals was expected within 36 hours. The Iranian official said there was no deadline for exchanging messages.
What Tehran wants
Iran says the Strait of Hormuz stays shut until the US meets its demands: a waiver of oil sanctions, an end to the American naval blockade and the release of frozen Iranian funds. Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, said the US response so far was “not convincing”. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said Iran would not submit, and armed forces chief Ali Abdollahi said target lists were being updated.
The talk of a deal sits beside fresh fighting. Overnight, the US carried out what officials called “defensive” strikes on Qeshm Island against Iranian surface-to-air missiles, and stressed they did not mark a return to major combat. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they shot down a US MQ-9 drone and two smaller drones near the strait; Washington has not confirmed this.
President Donald Trump, speaking as Americans voted in the midterms, again raised the prospect of military action but said he was “not looking to” kill a lot of people. A day earlier he had said a deal with Tehran could happen.
The Gulf and India
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran’s talks with Saudi Arabia on a regional security arrangement without foreign forces were continuing. Officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan met their Iranian counterparts in Tehran last week, while Yemen’s Houthis have stepped up attacks on Saudi Arabia.
For India, which imports most of its crude and relies on Gulf shipping lanes, the 36-hour window matters. Oil fell sharply on Monday on hopes of a draft deal; a breakdown after the US vote would push prices and the rupee the other way.