Thursday 29 October 2026
Iran calls the latest ideas from Qatari mediators unacceptable, and the two sides stay divided over the nuclear question and the blockade
Qatari mediators have presented Iran with a draft plan built around seven days of confidence building steps to end the war with the United States and Israel, an official briefed on the talks said. A senior Iranian official answered that Doha had put forward only unacceptable ideas that did not amount to an offer, and that Tehran will not bend on the nuclear issue. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran is still talking to the mediators and has a seven day plan of its own.
Qatar and Pakistan have led the mediation effort to end the eight month war between Iran and the United States and Israel. An official briefed on the negotiations said Qatari mediators presented a new draft on Sunday. The draft sets a seven day timeline, with daily confidence building steps for each side, and several countries would stand as guarantors. Tehran was expected to answer by the end of the week.
The first answer that came out of Tehran was a rejection of the framing. A senior Iranian official involved in the talks said Qatar had presented only “unacceptable ideas and not an offer,” and he said Iran's policy of showing no flexibility on the nuclear issue has not changed.
Araghchi gave a softer version of the same position on Wednesday. He said Tehran stays in close contact with the intermediaries and is reviewing ideas that could put Iran's own seven day proposal into effect. He said Iran still gives diplomacy a chance and that its plan could be carried out in less than a week.
The gap between the two sides is about order. Washington wants the nuclear program addressed at the start. Tehran wants the American naval blockade lifted and sanctions on its oil exports ended before talks move forward. Neither side has moved on that sequence in public.
The diplomacy runs against a military buildup. The United States has warned Gulf governments to prepare for a possible short and intense campaign against Iran after the November 3 midterm elections, and an extra Patriot system is moving from Texas to Israel. Trump has not made a final decision. Iranian officials have answered with warnings of their own. Araghchi warned that an Israeli instigated attack in the Gulf would have a devastating impact on global markets, and Iranian security officials told Reuters that Tehran has drawn up plans to strike undersea cables in the Gulf in a case where the United States and Israel resume their attacks.
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