Iran has dismissed the latest ideas put forward by Qatari mediators to end its eight-month war with the United States and Israel, even as Tehran keeps examining them. Qatari mediators presented a new draft deal on Sunday, with Tehran expected to respond by the end of the week, an official briefed on the negotiations told Reuters. The draft sets a seven-day timeline of daily confidence-building steps for each side, with several countries acting as guarantors. Shortly afterwards, however, a senior Iranian official said Doha had presented only “unacceptable ideas and not an offer”, and that Tehran's policy of showing no flexibility over the nuclear issue remained unchanged.

The sticking points

The gap between the two sides is the same one that has blocked earlier efforts. Washington wants Iran's nuclear programme to be part of negotiations to end the war from the outset, while Iran says its conditions must be met first, including an end to the US blockade of Iranian ports and the lifting of sanctions on Iranian oil exports. An earlier interim agreement reached in June quickly unravelled. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran would stay in close contact with intermediaries to examine ideas for implementing its seven-day plan in less than a week — a signal on timing, not acceptance of Qatar's draft.

Why it matters for oil and shipping

The mediation matters beyond the negotiating room because the war has disrupted global shipping and oil supplies. Qatar, along with Pakistan, has led the mediation effort, and the latest exchange shows why a deal is still possible and why it remains distant, with Tehran rejecting the ideas while keeping the channel open. Nothing in the 28 October reporting announces an agreement, a ceasefire or a change in Iran's nuclear position.

Sources: Reuters, Levant Files live blog.