Iran and the United States are still far from a deal to end their eight-month war, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Tuesday, despite heightened diplomatic efforts to stop the fighting flaring again after the US midterm elections.

Source: Reuters

The warning came hours after the United States carried out what US officials described as “defensive” strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island overnight, saying the strikes targeted surface-to-air missiles used against US assets. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said separately that they downed a US MQ-9 drone overnight in the skies east of the Strait of Hormuz — a claim that has not been independently confirmed.

Source: Reuters

Qalibaf: the ball is in America’s court

Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, who also leads Iran’s negotiating team, told an open session of parliament on Tuesday that Tehran had given Washington a “strong and rational response” through the mediators. “The ball is now in America’s court to prevent a war,” he said, according to Anadolu and Press TV reports of his speech.

Source: Press TV

“The enemy seeks to force the Iranian nation into submission through threats and military action, but they are sorely mistaken, Iran will not submit,” Qalibaf said. He added that Iran’s armed forces were at their highest level of defensive readiness, and that any response to a renewed attack would be “unpredictable” and would disregard geographical constraints.

Source: Press TV

The senior Iranian official told Reuters that Tehran would respond forcefully, in the region and beyond, to US strikes. “Tehran’s conditions must be met if the US wants Hormuz reopened,” the official said, adding that nuclear talks could only start afterwards and that Tehran would not accept Washington’s “excessive demands”.

Source: Reuters

This is the latest turn after Monday’s developments, when President Donald Trump said he was not considering new strikes after the midterms and Qatari mediators flew to Tehran carrying a draft deal: read the full Monday story

The overnight action followed the reported US strikes on Qeshm Island on Monday, which Awaaz Punjab reported in detail: read the full Qeshm strikes story

What Tehran is asking for

Iran’s conditions, as stated by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei, include ending the war on all fronts, ending the US naval blockade of Iranian ports, releasing Iran’s frozen assets abroad, lifting sanctions on its oil sector and cancelling new sanctions imposed since August, restoring oil waivers, reducing US forces in the region, and accepting a new Iran-Oman shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz. Baghaei said on Monday that Iran’s seven-step proposal, first put to Washington through Qatar in September, had been condensed so it could be implemented within two days — down from seven days — if the US accepts the conditions.

Source: Reuters via BusinessWorld

Araghchi said on Monday that consultations through mediators were “very intensive”, and that “everything depends on the political rationality of Washington”. Qatari mediators travelled to Tehran on Monday night for talks on a version of the draft US-Iran deal that has been under negotiation for the past eight days, Reuters reported, citing an official briefed on the talks.

Source: Reuters

Regional talks with Saudi Arabia are running in parallel

Araghchi said on Tuesday that talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia are ongoing, as Tehran aims for new regional security arrangements for countries in the region without foreign military involvement. Last week, top officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan met Iranian officials in Tehran — the first high-level contact between Iran and the three nations since August.

Source: Reuters

Riyadh said that visit was intended to open negotiating channels to “prevent the return of military escalation”, as fighting between Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis had intensified in recent weeks. The Houthis have advanced towards the Bab el-Mandeb Strait — the shipping chokepoint on the opposite side of the Arabian Peninsula from Hormuz — and have attacked Saudi oil facilities and airports, including Riyadh’s international airport, disrupting flights and oil exports and drawing Saudi air strikes on Yemen in response. Yemen has been mired in civil war since the Houthis pushed the internationally recognised, Saudi-backed government out of the capital, Sanaa, in 2014.

Source: Reuters

Oil and shipping: prices bounce after Monday’s plunge

Oil prices edged up in early Asian trading on Tuesday after the Qeshm strike reports — Brent crude rose 48 cents to $105.25 a barrel, yaani about ₹9,950 a barrel, and US West Texas Intermediate rose 47 cents to $96.93. The rebound followed Monday’s sharp sell-off, when Brent settled at $104.77, down $8.66 or 7.63%, and WTI settled at $96.46, down $7.66 or 7.36%, as traders weighed hopes of a diplomatic settlement. The Strait of Hormuz has carried roughly a fifth of the world’s oil and gas, and traffic through it has been sharply reduced since the war began.

Source: Reuters via Gulf Business

What this means for Punjabi and Indian workers in the Gulf

Lakhs of Punjabi and Indian workers live and work across the Gulf states, and any return to strikes or shipping disruption hits them first — through flight disruption, as seen at Riyadh airport, through oil-driven price rises, and through remittance and job uncertainty. Workers should follow their employer’s guidance and official embassy advisories, and avoid unverified forwards about closures or evacuations.

What happens next

Tuesday is US midterm election day, and President Trump raised doubt on Monday about whether he would follow through on a threatened resumption of strikes after the vote, saying he believed Tehran wanted a deal as soon as possible. The next step is Washington’s answer to Tehran’s “strong and rational response”: mediators are still working to narrow the gaps, but the senior Iranian official’s Tuesday message — far from a deal, conditions first, Hormuz second — means neither a breakthrough nor a new offensive is settled yet.