Qatari mediators presented Iran with a new draft deal on Sunday to end the war with the United States and Israel, and Tehran is expected to send a response to the draft by the end of the week, an official briefed on the negotiations said on Wednesday, Reuters reported.
Source: Reuters
The new draft sets a seven-day timeline addressing both Tehran's and Washington's concerns, laying out daily confidence-building steps that each side must take, the official said. The timeline could begin early next week, and several countries would act as guarantors of the deal, the official added.
Iran is reviewing the proposal, Islamabad Post reported, describing the draft as a framework delivered to Iranian authorities on Sunday as diplomatic efforts accelerated to prevent a further escalation. Specific terms of the draft have not been publicly disclosed.
Source: Islamabad Post
Qatar, along with Pakistan, has led mediation to end the war that the US and Israel launched in February, Reuters said. The conflict has disrupted global shipping and oil supplies and spilled over across other parts of the Middle East — a direct concern for lakhs of Punjabi and Indian workers in the Gulf, whose jobs, flights and remittances move with oil and shipping.
Why the timing is sensitive
There were concerns ahead of Sunday's meeting in Tehran that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, fighting for another term in a general election, could resume attacks on Iran this week, the official briefed on the negotiations said.
On Friday, US President Donald Trump repeated threats to strike Iran again, while Iranian security officials told Reuters Tehran had drawn up detailed plans to attack Gulf undersea cables if the US and Israel resumed attacks. Those claims are reported as the officials' stated positions, not as independently verified plans.
Earlier mediation efforts helped produce an interim peace agreement in June, but the deal quickly unravelled, Reuters said. In recent weeks Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis have launched repeated attacks against Saudi Arabia, the world's largest crude exporter.
Tehran's response is expected by the end of the week. If Iran accepts the framework, the seven-day sequence of daily steps could begin early next week, with several countries as guarantors. No agreement has been signed, and neither side has publicly confirmed the draft's terms.