Pakistan’s army chief and Qatari diplomats visit Tehran
Middle East mediators are trying to revive talks with Iran as the United States moves another aircraft carrier toward the region and Israel prepares plans for possible new strikes. Pakistan’s army chief, Asim Munir, flew to Tehran on Tuesday, followed by a delegation of Qatari diplomats, in an effort to break the diplomatic deadlock. Regional officials said they were taking the risk of escalation seriously because of Trump’s threats and Iran’s unwillingness to bend to U.S. demands.
President Trump said the U.S. would not attack Iran before the Nov. 3 midterm elections. White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said the U.S. would not be attacking Iran “at any time prior to the midterm elections.” But Trump also threatened on Sunday on social media that unless Iran rapidly changes its behavior, the U.S. and Israel “will soon finish the job.”
The U.S. is pressing Iran to negotiate over its nuclear program, while Tehran wants the talks limited to reopening the Strait of Hormuz. The diplomatic track has been stuck for months, leaving the two sides with sharply different demands.
The U.S. has increased economic pressure through an oil-shipment blockade and tighter sanctions, but that pressure has not produced a breakthrough. Some mediators said offers could include releasing some Iranian funds frozen overseas with interest in exchange for nuclear concessions, such as allowing international inspectors to return. Transferring Iran’s enriched uranium stocks to Russia was a separate idea floated by some mediators. Iranian diplomats initially showed some openness to allowing international inspectors back, but Iranian hard-liners shut down that idea, some mediators said. Iranian officials were also angered by messages stating that Iran would need to engage in serious negotiations to head off a resumption of U.S. attacks, the mediators said.
In an opinion column in the Financial Times, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote that Iran would negotiate only if the U.S. gave up its military options and would respond aggressively across the region if attacked. “I am duty-bound to warn that any further escalation around the Strait of Hormuz or elsewhere in the region will put civilian lives and the wellbeing of all regional states and the global economy at great risk,” he wrote.
The warning echoed private threats from Iranian officials that any new round of escalation would be costly and would target Gulf energy infrastructure, other economic assets and U.S. bases, some mediators said.
Officials familiar with military planning said the U.S. has been preparing a range of strike options. Two aircraft carrier strike groups are currently in the Middle East, with a third coming from the Pacific, although it is unclear whether all three will remain in the region. The U.S. is also bringing in another amphibious assault ship loaded with Marines and has moved some troops away from regional bases and out of harm’s way as Iran and the Houthis threatened Gulf allies, the officials said. Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, which is responsible for the Middle East, said the military regularly moves assets and does not discuss them for operational security reasons.
The U.S. has about 20 warships in the region. An incoming carrier strike group and Marine unit are expected to raise the total to more than two dozen if other ships do not rotate out, significantly expanding the Navy’s ability to conduct round-the-clock operations and giving Trump more options for amphibious landings or other missions.
The Houthis have launched attacks on Saudi Arabia, and the State Department recently ordered nonemergency U.S. government employees and their families there to leave. Iran’s Houthi allies in Yemen have also launched a wave of missile and drone attacks on energy facilities and airports in Saudi Arabia.
Benjamin Netanyahu has been pushing publicly to restart strikes, while Israel’s military prepared a multiday bombing campaign earlier that month that would have struck civilian, nuclear and regime targets, according to a person briefed on the planning. The planned operation did not proceed after Trump publicly opposed restarting the war before the congressional elections. The Financial Times had previously reported the planned Israeli strikes. Netanyahu’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Netanyahu has also been pushing to restart strikes in Iran, according to a person briefed on his thinking. Israel’s military has been updating its target list amid concern that Iran is making fast progress rebuilding infrastructure and missile and drone capabilities. Israel presented U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth with strike targets based on new intelligence during a Monday meeting at an Israeli air base, the person said. Israel’s military has remained on high alert for several weeks. A large number of U.S. military personnel remain in Israel, while refueling tankers are stationed at the country’s main airport and air force bases in the south.
The United States and Israel carried out more than 20,000 strikes on Iran during the most active phase of the war. Iran responded with missile and drone attacks across the Gulf, hitting energy infrastructure, airports, U.S. bases and American embassies and consulates. Defending against that barrage has eaten into stocks of missile interceptors needed for future attacks.
Iran has sharply increased strikes against ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Oil flows through the narrow waterway have surged, however, as shippers, with the guidance and protection of U.S. forces, manage to make their way through. Trump has publicly mulled attacking Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain nuclear site and previously ordered strikes on Iranian targets near the strait to hamper Iran’s ability to attack commercial ships.
“We want to make sure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon,” Hegseth said on Tuesday after his trip to the Middle East. “If they’re not willing to give it up, and the president asks us to go even further, we’re prepared.” Trump has previously escalated threats against Iran before backing down and trying to cut a deal, most recently in late July.
MSI previously reported the Pentagon’s deployment of a third aircraft carrier and additional Marine Corps ships to the Middle East. The carrier movement has continued as mediators try to revive Iran talks, while the nuclear negotiation and Strait of Hormuz dispute remain unresolved.