Iranian envoys meet Qatari mediators as threat looms of US strikes after midterms

Countries in the region have been anticipating that US President Donald Trump, who has held off on strikes on Iran during the weeks leading up to Tuesday's midterm elections, could restart attacks once the ⁠voting is over. Iran has repeatedly said it would respond to new attacks by striking at US and Israeli targets in neighbouring countries.

Iran's 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.

"Any level or type of threat must be met with an immediate, impactful, and geographically unrestricted response," Khamenei, who has not appeared in public since replacing his father slain at the war's outset, said on Saturday in the statement posted on his official Telegram account.

He said that senior commanders had reported high readiness along the Gulf coast, in and around the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman, and on Iran's northwestern and southeastern borders. DIPLOMACY CONTINUES DESPITE GAPSTrump, who launched the war alongside Israel in February, has repeatedly hinted at plans to restart strikes on Iran.

Last week he called on Israelis ahead of their own election to keep ⁠his wartime ally Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in power so the two leaders can "finish the job". But Washington has also lately taken steps to indicate it is open to diplomacy.

Earlier this week, Vice President JD Vance, who led the US delegation at previous rounds of talks with Iran, wrote a letter to a hardline senior Iranian security official, which the New York Times and Wall Street Journal described as an initiative to see if it was possible to restart talks.

Trump played the letter down, saying he approved ⁠it only to discuss the possibility of letting more medical supplies into Iran: "I said if you want to do that, that's ok. Basically, it's getting supplies in to help people that are not well.

"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 this proposal was not deemed satisfactory by Tehran.

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 Hormuz, after which the contested strait would be reopened.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in remarks that Iran was studying Vance's letter. He said the Iranian plan was the only proposal on the table to reopen the strait.