US, Iran to hold separate talks with mediators
Iran’s Khamenei says ‘enemy forces’ would soon be driven out of Arabian Sea
doha
Qatari mediators were likely to hold talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in New York, and separately with the US side on Monday or Tuesday, an official briefed on the negotiations told Reuters, in a fresh push to end the war.
The talks were expected to focus on an amended version of a seven-day proposal that Iran presented last week on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Araghchi remains in New York after attending the General Assembly. It was not immediately clear who would represent the US side in the talks with mediators.
Iran’s ISNA news agency later confirmed that Araghchi would meet the mediators in the United States on Monday morning, New York time.
The two sides would “examine the latest proposals and views regarding the current situation”, ISNA added.
Iran’s seven-day plan envisages an end to all hostilities in Iran and Lebanon, the unfreezing of billions of dollars worth of Iranian assets, an end to sanctions on Iranian oil and the lifting of the US blockade on Iranian ports.
Tehran would then allow the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and the two sides would also resume talks on Iran’s nuclear programme.
US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he had rejected Iran’s proposal, saying Tehran wanted a swift agreement because of the crippling economic pressure it is under.
However, he also told Axios on Sunday that he expected US negotiators to engage in further talks this week.
Araghchi said on Sunday that mediators had not formally conveyed a US rejection to Tehran and that Iran was awaiting Washington’s definitive position before deciding its next steps.
“Our conditions are clear, and any move toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz is contingent on these conditions being met,” he said on Sunday, adding that only a negotiated solution could resolve the impasse.
Iran’s Khamenei says ‘enemy forces’ would soon be driven out of Arabian Sea
Iranian forces have driven enemy forces back from waters off southern Iran to the Arabian Sea, Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said on Monday, according to his Telegram channel, warning that Iranian forces would soon push them out of the Arabian Sea as well.
“Today, there are various declarations of readiness throughout Islamic Iran, particularly for armed participation, creating an arena in which our people will gain honour and their enemy disgrace,” he wrote on his X account.
He then said that the “bygone days” which Iran’s enemies “longed to return to” have passed and “will never be repeated.”
Mediators press Iran for nuclear concession to revive ceasefire talks with US: report
Mediators are pressing Iran to make concessions on its nuclear program in an effort to revive ceasefire negotiations with the US, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The initiative follows US President Donald Trump’s rejection of an Iranian proposal for a seven-day ceasefire that would have reopened the Strait of Hormuz and ended the US blockade of Iranian ports, according to the Journal.
Mediators described the effort as a long-shot attempt to secure movement from Tehran on its nuclear program, while Iran has so far given little indication that it is prepared to discuss the issue.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday that Tehran remained open to negotiations but would respond to renewed military action.
“We are fully prepared for the war to resume,” Araghchi told NBC News when asked about the Journal report.
“We stand firm in the face of any new aggression, even if it comes to a doomsday war. But at the same time we stand ready for diplomacy. It is up to President Trump to choose,” he added.
Arab mediators said Iran had made no concessions since Trump rejected its ceasefire proposal, while Gulf officials said Tehran wants Washington to offer concessions before negotiations advance.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, whose country is relaying messages between Washington and Tehran, said the conflict was becoming increasingly difficult to resolve.
“This conflict is very complex,” he said earlier in New York at a special UN General Assembly edition of the Qatar Economic Forum.
