Gulf officials await Washington’s response to Iran’s proposal
The third day of indirect US-Iran talks in Doha centered on Qatar’s effort to negotiate the release of more than $6bn in Iranian assets, which could lead to the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and the restart of negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program. Gulf officials were awaiting Washington’s response to an Iranian proposal that could reopen the waterway before Tuesday’s US midterm elections.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Saturday that Iran had offered to reopen the strait within two days after the US lifted its blockade on oil ships, stopped blocking the release of Iranian assets and ended sanctions on Iranian oil exports. Qatar focused on compressing a sequence in which the US would lift sanctions, Iran would reopen the strait and nuclear talks would begin, an effort intended to overcome a lack of trust on both sides. Iran had agreed to shorten the timetable from seven days to two days.
On Sunday, young Iranians walked past a large anti-US wall mural in Tehran. Araghchi said he hoped the United States would choose “diplomacy over other paths” to end the crisis.
Qatar’s mediation continued despite unidentified missiles striking a Pakistan-bound Qatari LNG tanker near the Strait of Hormuz on Friday. The attack came despite the ship receiving direct clearance and safe-passage approval from Tehran just hours earlier.
United Arab Emirates envoy Anwar Gargash said another round of escalation was not in the interests of Iran or any of its neighbors. He said: “We are also, as we have shown before, braced for the worst.” He added: “Relations with Iran are essential, because Iran is our neighbour and we do not want to see it get caught up in a prolonged crisis.”
Ali Nikzad, the deputy speaker of Iran’s parliament, once again signaled that Tehran would be unwilling to discuss its nuclear program. He said: “Our enemies must understand that the Iranian nation has made a decision not to negotiate on the nuclear issue under any circumstances or under any pressure. This great nation gave its enemies enough opportunity to negotiate in this area, but was faced with repeated breaches of promises and illegal bombing of part of peaceful nuclear facilities.”
Speaking to Al Jazeera on Saturday, Araghchi said Iran was ready for both “defence and diplomacy,” depending on Washington’s “rationality.” He said there were currently no plans for direct talks with Washington. Araghchi was not attending the Doha mediation and was due to go to Turkmenistan on Monday, though other Iranian diplomats were heavily involved in the talks.
On Saturday, Donald Trump said the US had knocked out much of Iran’s military but still had to “take care of” one or two targets, as Tehran warned of reprisals if attacked. He maintained that negotiations with Iran to end the war, which he said had been started by the United States and Israel in February, were “going fine but you know they’re not very reliable.”
Earlier on Saturday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US was open to a diplomatic solution. Iran’s security chief Mohsen Rezaei disclosed that he had received a letter from US Vice President JD Vance seeking to revive talks. Rezaei noted what he described as a positive change in “tone” from the US side but said he had yet to respond.
Rezaei claimed Trump was being hounded by a war that he said was having wider international repercussions than the Vietnam war. Speaking to Iranian television on Saturday, he said: “Today, wherever Trump goes, he must answer why he started the war against Iran. There is no family in America that has not endured the pressure caused by the war in Iran.”