Iran's foreign minister says talks with Saudi Arabia are ongoing
“Iran and the United States are far from reaching a deal to end the war, a senior Iranian official told. Reuterson Tuesday, despite heightened diplomatic efforts to prevent a potential return to active c…”
Reuterson Tuesday, despite heightened diplomatic efforts to prevent a potential return to active conflict after theUS midterm elections. In parallel to US-Iran exchange of messages via intermediaries, diplomatic efforts are ongoing at the regional level to prevent further deflagration.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Tuesday that talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia are ongoing as Tehran aims to reach new regional security arrangements for countries in the region without foreign military involvement. Last week, top officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistanmet Iranian officialsin Tehran, the first high-level contact between Iran and the three nations since August.
The US-Israeli war on Iran started in late February and since then, fighting hasspread to Saudi Arabiaand Yemen. Riyadh said the visit was intended to open negotiating channels to "prevent the return of military escalation," as fighting between Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Houthis had intensified in recent weeks.
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Read:Saudi-led coalition intercepts Houthi ballistic missile, drone near Riyadh. Houthi attacks on the kingdom escalated as the group advanced towards the. Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a key shipping chokepoint that lies on the opposite side of the Arabian Peninsula fromthe Strait of Hormuz.
The Houthis have also attacked. Saudi oil facilitiesandairportsincluding Riyadh's international airport, disrupting flights and oil exports and drawing. Saudi air strikeson Yemen in response.
Impoverished Yemen has been mired in a civil war since the Houthis pushed the internationally recognised, Saudi-backed government out of the capital, Sanaa, in 2014. Meanwhile, the US carried out "defensive" strikes on Iran's Qeshm island overnight, with a US official saying the strikes targeted surface-to-air missiles used against US assets.
Meanwhile, the Revolutionary Guards said they downed a US MQ-9 drone overnight in the skies over the east of the Strait of Hormuz.
"Mediators are working hard to narrow gaps between Tehran and Washington," the senior Iranian official said, after Qatari mediators travelled to Tehran on Monday night for talks on a version of the draft US-Iran deal that has beenunder negotiationfor the past eight days.
“Tehran's conditions must be met if the US wants Hormuz reopened,” the Iranian official cautioned, adding that nuclear talks could only start afterwards and that Tehran would not accept Washington's "excessive demands". Read More:It's going to get wrapped up soon: Trump on Iran war.
Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Tuesday that the ball was in the US' court after Tehran gave a "strong and rational response" to Washington. The senior Iranian told. Reuters.
Tehran would respond forcefully, in the region and beyond, to US strikes. "The enemy seeks to force the Iranian nation into submission through threats and military action, but they are sorely mistaken, Iran will not submit," Ghalibaf also said on Tuesday, adding that Tehran's response to any miscalculation by the US would be unpredictable anddisregard geographical constraints.
US President Donald Trump raised doubt on Monday about whether he would follow through on a threatenedresumption of military strikesagainst Iran after the midterm elections on Tuesday, adding that he believed Tehran wanted to make a deal as soon as possible.
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