Qatari mediators were in Tehran on Sunday, 25 October, as part of an effort coordinated with Washington to ease regional tensions with Iran, Reuters reported, citing an official briefed on the situation. The visit came on a day when US President Donald Trump publicly ruled out a strike on Iran that day, while keeping further military action on the table.

Messages through intermediaries

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said diplomatic messages continued to be exchanged through intermediaries despite stalled negotiations, according to the same reporting. No new attack order or military timetable was announced on Sunday. In a separate television interview, Trump raised the choice facing Washington as either reaching an agreement with Tehran or intensifying military action, and claimed the United States controlled the Strait of Hormuz.

Why mediation matters now

The mediation effort sits against a backdrop of sharply raised tensions: US personnel movements out of several Middle East posts, warnings from both sides about further strikes, and continued fighting involving Yemen's Houthis and Saudi Arabia. Qatar has repeatedly acted as an intermediary in regional disputes, and a mediated channel offers both sides a way to test terms without a direct meeting. For now, the only confirmed development is that the channel is active and mediators were in Tehran on Sunday; no agreement, deadline or change in either side's stated position has been announced as a result of the visit.

Sources: Reuters, via Profile News; Iranian Foreign Ministry statements as reported.