Iran’s proposal to end the war involves an end to US blockade of ports, lifting of some sanctions and a bombing halt<\/p>\n
US President Donald Trump. Photo: file <\/p>\n
US \u200bPresident Donald Trump will meet the prime minister of key mediator Qatar<\/a> on Monday as efforts to end the Iran war ramp up following last week’s \u200cmidterm elections, though senior US and Gulf officials cast doubt on the chances of an imminent deal.<\/p>\n More than eight months into the conflict he launched alongside Israel on February 28, Trump has played down the likelihood of major warfare restarting soon but remains unwilling to accept an existing Iranian truce plan.<\/p>\n Mutual attacks continue, with the US striking Iran’s Qeshm island<\/a> overnight, according to Iranian state media, and Iran attacking tankers in the Gulf and \u200bStrait of Hormuz this month while its Yemeni Houthi allies have hit Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n Diplomatic moves<\/strong><\/p>\n Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, who is both prime minister and foreign minister of \u200bQatar, will meet Trump and Vice President JD Vance in Washington later on Monday after having visited Tehran last week.<\/p>\n Read: <\/strong>Israel, US negotiating new multiyear military aid agreement: report<\/a><\/p>\n Iran’s proposal to end \u2060the war involves an end to the US blockade of its ports, the lifting of some sanctions and a halt to bombing in return for Tehran stopping its own blockade \u200bof the Strait of Hormuz, with talks on its nuclear programme and other sanctions to follow.<\/p>\n The US has repeatedly rejected that plan, which Iran has said could be condensed to a \u200btwo-day timeframe, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio describing Tehran’s conditions on Sunday as “outrageous and ridiculous and really not realistic”.<\/p>\n Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei defended the plan on Monday as the most reasonable offer on the table.<\/p>\n Senior US Republicans, including Vance<\/a>, have blamed their party’s losses in last week’s elections on the Iran war, but despite growing domestic political pressure to end the conflict, Rubio said he did not believe \u200ba diplomatic breakthrough was imminent.<\/p>\n Read more: <\/strong>Iran, China discuss Yemen crisis, future regional security arrangements<\/a><\/p>\n A senior United Arab Emirates official, Anwar Gargash, echoed that view on Monday, saying a comprehensive political settlement between the US and Iran appeared difficult.<\/p>\n “We should … \u200bprepare for a long period of uncertainty in which neither a decisive resolution nor stable regional order can be taken for granted,” he said.<\/p>\n Vance, who led the negotiations for a short-lived truce in June, \u200cwill also \u2060meet Al-Thani, whose country has been a prime mediator since early in the war, conveying messages between the sides and proposing ways to bridge their differences.<\/p>\n Anxiety over the war has pervaded the region for months, and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday he had told Trump that Ankara did not want to see a new escalation.<\/p>\n “We emphasise at every opportunity that it is possible to resolve these issues through dialogue and diplomacy. Unfortunately, we see a negative shift once again. We are doing our utmost to prevent this,” Erdogan told reporters.<\/p>\n Military action<\/strong><\/p>\n Sunday \u200bnight’s strikes on Qeshm island did not impact \u200bvital infrastructure or services, a provincial \u2060official told Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency<\/em> on Monday. The US has not commented on the Iranian media reports.<\/p>\n A senior Iranian source told Reuters<\/em> that US strikes were targeting Iranian radar systems serving both air defence and ship navigation, as well as bases for missile launchers \u200band mine-laying systems.<\/p>\n Also Read: <\/strong>Iran open to negotiations to end \u2018no war, no peace\u2019 situation: Iranian president<\/a><\/p>\n Attacks on tankers in the Gulf and Strait of Hormuz ramped up sharply in October and have continued at the \u200bhighest rate since the \u2060start of the war, figures from international maritime agencies showed last week.<\/p>\n Iran, which typically does not acknowledge striking vessels that report being hit by projectiles<\/a>, said on Sunday a tanker had hit a mine east of the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n A state television reporter said on Monday that 11 tankers had been “disabled” over the past 10 days.<\/p>\n The war has triggered a global energy shortage, prompted Iranian \u2060strikes on Gulf \u200bArab countries, spilt over into a major Israeli offensive in Lebanon during the spring and summer and reignited \u200bYemen’s long-frozen civil war.<\/p>\n