Qatari mediators have returned to Tehran on Friday as part of efforts to secure an agreement between the United States (US) and Iran, an official briefed on the negotiations told an international news agency. Mediation efforts were coordinated with Washington DC, the official said.
The visit came days after Qatar presented Iran with a draft peace plan on Sunday aimed at ending the conflict. However, a senior Iranian official rejected the proposals as unacceptable, saying that Tehran will maintain its position on the nuclear issue.
The delegation, led by a senior adviser to Qatar’s prime minister, planned to meet senior Iranian officials to discuss bilateral relations and regional developments, the IRNA state news agency reported.
Diplomatic efforts continued as Washington and Tehran remain divided over the conditions for negotiations. The US wants nuclear matters included from the beginning of the talks, while Iran has called on Washington to first end its blockade of Iranian ports and lift sanctions on its oil exports.
Iranian Foreign Minister (FM) Abbas Araqchi said on Wednesday that Tehran remained in close contact with intermediaries as it reviewed proposals that could help implement its own seven-day plan to end the war in the Middle East.
Iranian Parliamentary Speaker Bagher Ghalibaf also reiterated Tehran’s position on negotiations, saying that progress depended on agreement over the country’s seven conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
In a post on X, Ghalibaf said that Iran had repeatedly communicated its conditions to mediators and warned that pressure tactics will not change Tehran’s position.
“Iran’s conditions have been repeatedly and clearly stated to the mediators. The carrot-and-stick approach has no effect on Iran,” he said.
Meanwhile, President of US Donald Trump said on Thursday that Vice President JD Vance’s outreach to Iran concerned medical supplies. His remarks followed US media reports linking the contact to restarting peace negotiations.
