Iranian negotiators were in Doha on Sunday 1 November for a third consecutive day of talks with Qatari mediators aimed at a deal to end the war between the United States, Israel and Iran, an official briefed on the discussions told Reuters. Qatari mediators had been in Tehran on Friday before the talks moved to Doha on Saturday. This post is a follow-up to the site's earlier report of the envoys meeting Qatari mediators in Doha on 31 October; the third day, and the statements around it, are the new development.

President Donald Trump has said the United States will not launch new attacks on Iran before Tuesday's midterm elections and that talks with Tehran have been productive, though he has not ruled out further military action afterwards. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday that Trump had not decided whether to launch new strikes against Iran but would prefer a diplomatic resolution. Iran's supreme leader issued a statement on Saturday ordering the armed forces to be prepared to respond to any attacks, Reuters reported.

A contradictory signal, carried honestly

There is a tension in the public record that readers should see plainly. While Reuters reports the Doha discussions through an official briefed on them, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said Tehran has no plans to hold talks with US officials and dismissed reports of such meetings as inaccurate, according to IRNA. The Doha talks as reported are therefore best understood as mediated discussions, not as confirmed direct US-Iran negotiations, until either side confirms more.

The wider diplomatic push

In Istanbul on Friday, the UK, France and Germany met counterparts from Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt and Italy, urging diplomacy and full resumption of secure Hormuz passage; Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said none approved of another attack on Iran.