Iranian negotiators held a third day of talks in Doha. Trump said strikes remain possible after the midterms.
Iranian negotiators held a third consecutive day of talks with Qatari mediators in Doha on Sunday aimed at ending the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, an official briefed on the discussions told Reuters, as President Donald Trump said strikes remain possible after the midterm elections.
The talks are being coordinated in regular contact with Washington, the official said. Qatari mediators were in Tehran on Friday before the talks moved to Doha on Saturday. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the “ongoing and progressing” talks aim to continue consultations with Qatar, and that Tehran is prepared for both defense and diplomacy. He said Saturday there were no plans for direct talks with U.S. officials. Iran’s security chief, Mohsen Rezaei, said he reviewed a letter from Vice President JD Vance in which the U.S. tone had changed completely, calling it a very positive sign, Al Jazeera reported. Fox News reported that Vance reached out to an Iranian hard-liner to revive talks.
Trump said the negotiations are “going fine” but questioned Tehran’s reliability, and said the U.S. still has one or two targets in Iran to take care of. He has said the U.S. will not launch new attacks on Iran before the Nov. 3 vote but has not ruled out military action afterward. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday that Trump has not decided whether to launch new strikes and would prefer to resolve the conflict diplomatically.
Iran has said it would respond to any new attacks by striking U.S. and Israeli targets in neighboring countries. The eight-month-old war continues to disrupt global oil supplies and spill over across the Middle East. Araghchi said Saturday that talks with Qatar are focused on a plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within two days if the United States meets Tehran’s conditions.