Iranian negotiators are meeting with Qatari mediators for a third day of talks aimed at ending the war with the US and Israel. Iran has offered a proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in two days after its conditions are met.
On Sunday, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said that the talks were “ongoing and progressing.” The talks have resulted in an Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours. President Donald Trump downplayed the negotiations on Saturday, saying they were “going fine but you know they’re not very reliable.”
The talks come amid reports that the US is preparing to escalate the war against Iran after the midterm elections on Tuesday. During his remarks on Saturday, Trump said, “We’ve knocked out their nuclear. We still have to take care of, I would say one or two sites, but we can do that in 10 minutes.”
Araqchi said Iran was ready for “both defense and diplomacy.” He added, “We are doing our best in this process, and we hope that there is rationality on the other side so that they prioritize diplomacy over other paths.”
On Saturday, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei issued orders to Iranian forces to be prepared to attack both military and civilian targets across the Middle East in response to any US or Israeli attack.
While talks are progressing in Qatar, Iran is continuing to strike vessels in the Strait and Persian Gulf. On Friday, an LNG tanker owned by the Qatar Gas Transport Company was hit in the Gulf. Iran has not said it was behind the attack; however, Tehran has stepped up attacks on vessels near the Strait of Hormuz over the past month.
