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DUBAI\/ATLANTA: Iranian negotiators held talks in Doha with Qatari mediators on Saturday to discuss paths out of war in the Gulf, a source who was briefed on the negotiations told Reuters, as diplomats try to avert new fighting after the US midterm elections this week.<\/p>\n
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday that President Donald Trump has not decided whether to launch new strikes against Iran, but would prefer to resolve the conflict diplomatically.<\/p>\n
Trump has held off on strikes on Iran in recent weeks ahead of midterm elections that will determine whether his Republican Party will retain its thin majorities in both houses of the US Congress.<\/p>\n
Saturday\u2019s talks in the Qatari capital followed more than 12 hours of discussions on Friday between Iranian and Qatari envoys in Tehran, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The source \u200csaid the talks \u200cwere being coordinated in regular contacts with Washington.<\/p>\n
Countries in the region have been anticipating that \u200bTrump could \u200crestart \u2060attacks once \u200bthe \u2060voting is over. Iran has repeatedly said it would respond to any new attacks by striking at US and Israeli targets in neighboring countries.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei issued a statement on Saturday ordering the armed forces to be prepared to respond to any attacks. The Iranian military later announced it was taking steps to improve its readiness.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny level or type of threat must be met with an immediate, impactful, and geographically unrestricted response,\u201d Khamenei said on Saturday in the statement posted on his official Telegram account. He has not appeared in public since replacing his father, who was slain at the war\u2019s outset.<\/p>\n
Khamenei said senior commanders had reported high readiness along the Gulf coast, in and around the Strait of Hormuz \u2060and Gulf of Oman, and on Iran\u2019s northwestern and southeastern borders.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s influential security chief Mohsen Rezaei said \u200cTehran was debating whether to lift its longstanding ban on nuclear weapons should hostilities resume, although \u200che said no such decision had been taken. There could be no talks on \u200bIran\u2019s nuclear program unless Washington accepted Iran\u2019s demands, he added.<\/p>\n
Rubio, hosting foreign \u200cministers of the G20 major economies in Atlanta, declined to set a timeframe for the talks in Qatar, but said direct and \u200cindirect contacts with Iran were under way.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are multiple talks. Talks have actually never stopped,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Trump would \u201cprefer to solve it diplomatically. But I think what the president expresses to you is incredible confidence that if we needed to do something militarily, we would have the ability to do it,\u201d Rubio said.<\/p>\n
Diplomacy continues despite gaps<\/strong><\/p>\n Trump, who launched the war alongside Israel in February, has repeatedly hinted at plans to restart strikes on Iran. Last week he called on \u200cIsraelis ahead of their own election to keep his wartime ally Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in power so the two leaders can \u201cfinish the job.\u201d<\/p>\n But Washington has also lately taken steps to \u2060indicate it is open to diplomacy. Earlier \u2060this week, Vice President JD Vance, who led the US delegation at previous rounds of talks with Iran, wrote a letter to the security chief Rezaei, which the New York Times and Wall Street Journal described as an initiative to see if it was possible to restart talks.<\/p>\n Trump has played the letter down, saying he approved it only to discuss the possibility of letting more medical supplies into Iran: \u201cI said if you want to do that, that\u2019s ok. Basically, it\u2019s getting supplies in to help people that are not well.\u201d<\/p>\n In the latest Qatari-mediated discussions, the Qataris brought a proposal to Tehran a week ago for a seven-day plan, under which the US and Iran would take daily steps to build trust ahead of broader peace talks, the source briefed on the negotiations said. A senior Iranian official told Reuters on Friday that this proposal was not deemed satisfactory by Tehran.<\/p>\n Iran has been proposing its own seven-day plan since September, so far rejected by Trump. That calls for Washington to lift a blockade of Iranian ports, unfreeze assets and approve an Iranian-backed route through the Strait of \u200bHormuz, after which the contested strait would be reopened.<\/p>\n Foreign Minister Abbas \u200bAraqchi said in remarks reported by Al Jazeera on Saturday that Iran was studying Vance\u2019s letter. He said the Iranian plan was the only proposal on the table to reopen the strait.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n