Iran says talks continue despite no breakthrough - The Express Tribune
Contacts between Iran and the United States to end their eight-month war are continuing, Tehran said on Monday, after days of ?Iranian talks with Qatari mediators ended with altered proposals but no breakthrough.
"Consultations through mediators are very intensive. We have presented our conditions and proposals and everything depends on the political rationality of Washington," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in comments carried by ?state media outlet IRNA.
Amid fears the conflict could reignite after Tuesday's midterm elections in the United States, China and Russia both spoke out on Monday against the possibility of renewed military action in a war that has hit the ?global economy.
While oil prices fell nearly 4% on Monday on hopes that the latest round of mediation could lead to a diplomatic solution to the crisis, Iranian sources said they believed a new US attack was still more likely than a deal.
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the plan Iran had submitted in September to end the war remained the focus of discussions, but he confirmed comments attributed to Araqchi on Saturday that the ?proposal could be shortened.
"The basis of dialogue and talks between Iran and the US via mediators is still Iran's seven-step proposal, which is now condensed, making it possible to implement it within two days," he said.
US President Donald Trump rejected the seven-step proposal in September.
The plan would call for the US to end its blockade on Iranian ports, Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz waterway, a US waiver on Iranian oil sales, the cancellation of new sanctions on Iran and then talks on other issues.
Baghaei reiterated that ?condensing the plan would not change Iran's underlying stance that a return to talks on the country's nuclear programme could only happen after it verified that all its conditions were met.
Asked whether the possibility of transferring Iran's highly enriched uranium stockpile to another country was raised in the talks, and whether Iran might agree to that, he said no.
An official briefed on the talks said Iran's negotiators had left on Sunday but not because of any problems in the talks, and added that a draft proposal was being circulated without elaborating.
The war, which the US and Israel launched suddenly on February 28, has led to Iran's closure of the key Strait of Hormuz waterway, the US blockade on Iranian ports, repeated bouts of Iranian drone and missile fire on Gulf states and renewed conflict in Yemen.
Trump has repeatedly said there would be no new attack on Iran before Tuesday's midterm elections. Iran has said it will respond to any resumed attack aggressively with plans to strike targets both within and outside the Middle East.
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Monday that all parties to the conflict should focus on political solutions rather than resorting to arms again, after a meeting with senior Iranian security official Ali Bagheri Kani in Beijing.
China, a major customer for Gulf energy products, is engaging more actively in Middle East diplomacy this week, hosting Oman's Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said, whose country flanks the southern side of the Strait of Hormuz.
Wang also met Saudi Arabia's national security advisor Musaed bin Mohammed al-Aiban in Beijing on Monday, China's Foreign Ministry said, adding that all sides should work to safeguard regional energy and shipping lane security.
In Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry said reports of new military action against Iran were a cause for extreme concern and called for increased diplomatic efforts.
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone with Iran's top security official Mohsen Rezaei on Monday, Iranian state media reported.
Underscoring the risks to global energy supply, a Qatari liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker was struck in the Gulf by unidentified objects on Friday, its operator Nakilat said on Sunday.
While attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf and Red Sea have been common during the conflict, attacks on LNG carriers have been rare, with the last reported incident with a ?Qatari tanker happening in early July.
US commentator Tucker Carlson claimed late Sunday that the Trump administration could be days away from launching a nuclear strike on Iran, alleging that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pressuring President Donald Trump to authorize an attack on a suspected nuclear site in central Iran.
In a lengthy post on the US social media company X, Carlson identified the potential target as Pickaxe Mountain, where Israeli intelligence allegedly believes Iran has resumed its nuclear enrichment program.
Carlson is a conservative political commentator and former Fox News host whose program, Tucker Carlson Tonight, aired from 2016 to 2023.
He now hosts an independent political show on X, where he regularly comments on US foreign policy and international affairs.
Carlson claimed conventional US weapons could not penetrate the estimated 300 feet of solid granite protecting underground tunnels at the site, leaving a nuclear strike as the only military option.
"Bibi (Netanyahu) calls Trump about it every day," Carlson quoted an unnamed informed observer as saying.
Carlson argued that Netanyahu's political survival is driving his push for further military action. He claimed Netanyahu needs Trump's intervention to secure a 61-seat majority in the Knesset following the latest election results, warning that otherwise he could lose power and face investigations and possible imprisonment.
He also alleged that Netanyahu has been pressing senior US officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and US Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper, to resume major combat operations.
Carlson also claimed that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe were following Netanyahu's lead.
He further said former President Barack Obama had also opposed the Iran peace agreement being drafted in Doha.
Carlson said US allies in the Middle East were increasingly concerned about renewed fighting. He claimed Netanyahu secretly traveled to Abu Dhabi on Sept 27 to persuade the UAE to support a final attack on Iran, but Emirati officials refused.
Warning of the economic consequences, Carlson said eight months of conflict had severely affected Gulf economies, as well as global energy and fertilizer markets. He claimed 11 of the world's approximately 850 oil supertankers were badly damaged in the Strait of Hormuz in October alone.
He also warned that a nuclear explosion at Pickaxe Mountain could contaminate the Gulf and threaten the water supply of around 100 million people.
Carlson argued that a US nuclear strike could establish a dangerous precedent, potentially encouraging Russia to use nuclear weapons against Ukraine, triggering renewed nuclear tensions between India and Pakistan, and prompting North Korea to attack Seoul.
"After the first nuclear strike, World War Three is inevitable. That war would be short and final," he wrote.
He further alleged that the Trump administration had quietly revised US nuclear doctrine since February to make the first use of so-called "battlefield nukes" easier and more likely.
Carlson said Trump could decide by Nov 7 whether to authorize the use of nuclear weapons, adding that Vice President JD Vance and special envoy Steve Witkoff were urging him to pursue a diplomatic agreement with Tehran.
Although acknowledging that negotiations would be difficult, Carlson said people who had spoken with Iranian decision-makers believed there was a consensus that further conflict would benefit no one and that an agreement was worth pursuing.
He concluded by warning that the consequences of a nuclear strike would extend far beyond Iran, arguing that the international public had been excluded from decisions that could threaten millions of lives.
"Now would be the time for them to speak up," Carlson wrote.
Carlson's claims follow Trump's remarks to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Saturday that one or two Iranian nuclear facilities remained potential targets and that the US could strike them within 10 minutes.
Trump specifically mentioned Pickaxe Mountain, saying he had military plans for the area, but did not indicate that a nuclear strike had been authorized.
"You probably could look at Pickaxe Mountain, you have to take care of that. We can do that all very quickly," he added.
In an Oct 16 interview with Newsmax, he explicitly ruled out using nuclear weapons against Iran.
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