Qatar says US and Iran reviewing proposals as mediation continues

DOHA: Qatar said on Tuesday that the United States and Iran remain engaged in mediation efforts and are reviewing proposals put forward by mediators to narrow their differences.

Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said at a briefing that proposals were being exchanged rapidly between the two sides. He said progress had been made in the talks and efforts to narrow the gaps were continuing. The Qatari team that had gone to Tehran has returned to Doha, but talks are continuing.

The spokesman said there was agreement on avoiding escalation in the region and the Gulf, and strong joint efforts were under way at the regional level for this purpose. He said a deal that creates the conditions for future negotiations was still possible.

Meanwhile, Mohsen Rezaei, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said on X that the US response to Iran’s demands was not acceptable. He said the United States must give a full and clear answer to Iran’s seven conditions and act on them, and only then would the Strait of Hormuz be opened.

According to reports, Iran’s conditions include a ceasefire across the Middle East, the release of frozen assets abroad and the lifting of sanctions on the oil sector.

Tension has persisted in the region since 28 February, following US and Israeli attacks. A ceasefire was reached in April after Iran’s retaliatory attacks. On Monday, a US official confirmed that the United States had carried out limited strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, which he said did not amount to a resumption of major combat operations. The strike came after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed it had shot down a US drone.