Iranian negotiators convened with Qatari mediators in Doha on Saturday to explore ways to prevent renewed hostilities in the Gulf, a person briefed on the discussions said. The Doha meeting followed more than 12 hours of talks on Friday between Iranian and Qatari envoys in Tehran, the same person said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
According to the source, the Qatari-facilitated contacts are being coordinated in regular communications with Washington. Diplomats and officials across the region have been preparing for the possibility that U.S. President Donald Trump, who refrained from ordering strikes on Iran in the run-up to this week’s midterm elections, may restart military action once voting is concluded.
Iran has repeatedly warned it would strike U.S. and Israeli targets in neighbouring countries in response to any new attacks. In a statement posted on his official Telegram account on Saturday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei ordered the armed forces to be ready to respond to any attacks. The statement said that senior commanders had reported high readiness along the Gulf coast, in and around the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman, and on Iran’s northwestern and southeastern borders.
"Any level or type of threat must be met with an immediate, impactful, and geographically unrestricted response," Khamenei said in the statement.
The same statement noted that the Iranian military was taking steps to increase its preparedness. The source who described the Doha and Tehran discussions also said the diplomatic exchanges were continuing despite clear gaps between the parties’ positions.
President Trump, who launched the war alongside Israel in February, has repeatedly suggested he may renew strikes on Iran. Last week he urged Israeli voters ahead of their election to keep Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in office so the two leaders can "finish the job".
At the same time, Washington has made moves that indicate a willingness to pursue diplomatic channels. Earlier this week, Vice President JD Vance - who led U.S. delegations in prior rounds of talks with Iran - sent a letter to a hardline senior Iranian security official. The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal described that letter as an initiative to test whether talks could be resumed. Mr. Trump sought to downplay the correspondence, saying he approved it only to explore whether more medical supplies could be allowed into Iran. "I said if you want to do that, that’s ok. Basically, it’s getting supplies in to help people that are not well," he said.
In the most recent Qatari-mediated discussions, the Qataris presented a proposal in Tehran a week earlier for a seven-day confidence-building plan, the person briefed on the negotiations said. Under the Qatar-proposed timetable, the United States and Iran would undertake daily measures to build trust ahead of broader peace talks. A senior Iranian official told negotiators on Friday that Tehran did not find that proposal satisfactory.
Tehran has been advancing its own seven-day proposal since September. That plan, which President Trump has so far rejected, calls for Washington to lift a blockade of Iranian ports, unfreeze Iranian assets and approve an Iranian-backed route through the Strait of Hormuz; Iran has said the contested strait would then be reopened.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said, in remarks reported by Al Jazeera on Saturday, that Iran was studying Vice President Vance’s letter. Araqchi added that Iran’s own proposal remained the only plan Tehran regarded as on the table to reopen the strait.
Diplomacy appears to be continuing even as military posturing intensifies. The meetings in Doha and the extended talks in Tehran underline active mediation efforts, while public statements from Tehran demand heightened readiness and threaten retaliation for any new strikes. The juxtaposition of those diplomatic efforts and public military warnings reflects the delicate balance negotiators are attempting to maintain as regional and international actors monitor developments closely.
Contextual summary of developments
- Iranian and Qatari envoys held talks in Doha on Saturday following prolonged discussions in Tehran.
- The meetings are being coordinated with Washington through regular contacts, according to a person briefed on the negotiations.
- Iran has ordered its armed forces to prepare to respond to any attacks and has indicated it would target U.S. and Israeli sites in neighbouring countries if struck.
- Qatar proposed a seven-day confidence-building plan, which Iranian authorities found unsatisfactory; Iran continues to press its own seven-day plan that Washington has not accepted.