US President Donald Trump changed tone on Iran on Friday, 6 November, telling reporters outside the White House that the United States is in indirect negotiations with Tehran and that they are going well. "We are doing very well with Iran. We're talking to Iran. We have been. We haven't lost a soldier in seven months or six months. We have the Hormuz Strait opening," Trump said, the Jerusalem Post reported.

Source: Jerusalem Post, Nov 6, 2026

The remarks were a sharp turn from Thursday, when Trump — after his first post-midterms national-security meeting on the war — said he would soon decide whether to resume all-out strikes on Iran, warning: "I would rather not destroy the rest of the country if possible, but maybe I'll have to. You'll know soon enough." US officials cited by Axios say the options on his table are renewed strikes, continued economic pressure, or a deal involving major Iranian concessions, and that US Central Command is finalising preparations for possible major combat operations — but has received no new directive.

Source: Axios via Jerusalem Post / Signal Post News, Nov 6, 2026

How Thursday's strike warning set up Friday's softer line: Trump says he will soon decide whether to resume all-out war on Iran

Tehran's answer: no talks, no Hormuz, until seven conditions are met

Iran's public position on Friday pointed the other way. Major General Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said there will be no negotiations with the United States — and no reopening of the Strait of Hormuz — until Washington fulfils Iran's seven conditions. "Until the Americans fulfil our seven conditions, neither will the Strait of Hormuz be opened, nor will there be any negotiations," Rezaei said, according to Iran's IRNA news agency. Rezaei spoke after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on Thursday, where he delivered a message from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei; he said Putin had forcefully condemned the US and Israeli strikes on Iran, including on its nuclear facilities, and that Russia had offered support to end the war.

Source: IRNA via ANI, Nov 6, 2026

Tehran is, at the same time, working the phones. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held telephone conversations with his counterparts from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Oman amid regional diplomatic efforts, Iranian and regional media reported, and the New York Times reported on Thursday that Iran is reviewing proposals for a possible agreement that mediators in Qatar have presented. Iran International also reported, citing The Telegraph and a senior Iranian official, that Khamenei's message to Putin included a request for Russian S-400 air-defence systems — a reported request that has not been confirmed as accepted or delivered.

Source: New York Times via Jerusalem Post; Iran International via The Levant Files, Nov 6, 2026

Qatar urges a 'good' deal over a 'perfect' one

Qatar, the central mediator, pressed both sides publicly on Friday. Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said the United States and Iran had failed to reach a comprehensive agreement and urged them to accept a good deal rather than hold out for a perfect one, Shafaq News reported. Trump also spoke by phone on Friday with Qatar's Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, about efforts to end the US-Iran war, and Qatari and regional reporting describes mediation aimed at an interim arrangement — shipping access through Hormuz in exchange for relief from the US blockade and economic restrictions, followed by broader negotiations.

Source: Shafaq News / Reuters via Three Corporate War Desk, Nov 6, 2026

Friday's earlier diplomacy, before the talking-to-Iran remarks: Trump calls Qatar's Emir to push Iran mediation as Doha urges dialogue and safe shipping

Pressure track runs in parallel — and Hormuz is not yet 'opening'

Even as Trump spoke of progress, the pressure track continued: the Jerusalem Post reported that shortly before his comments, the US Treasury Department had added eight Canada-based businesses to its Specially Designated Nationals list, accused of enabling and facilitating currency exchanges for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). And on the water, Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Friday that two more oil tankers had caught fire after striking mines while using routes Tehran had not authorised, AFP reported — the latest in at least five vessel incidents in the Gulf since Sunday counted by Reuters. Analysts say the strait is still far from normal: ANZ senior commodity strategist Daniel Hynes said Hormuz flows are running at less than 60 percent of capacity, while Vortexa put Gulf crude and condensate exports at 14 million barrels a day in October, about 86 percent of pre-war levels.

Source: AFP via Arab News; Reuters; ANZ via HDFC Sky, Nov 6, 2026

Oil markets captured the tug-of-war. Brent crude reclaimed the $100 mark on Friday — at $99.83 a barrel, up 1.57 percent, in early Indian trade, and at $100.3, up about 2 percent, in the session's later reporting — while WTI traded near $91.73 to $91.8, up about 1.5 percent, the Hindu BusinessLine and HDFC Sky reported. That is roughly $100 for a barrel that cost far less before the war began in late February — yaani about $100 har barrel, jis da asar har desh vich petrol-diesel diyan keemtan te painda hai (about $100 per barrel, which feeds into fuel prices everywhere). Both benchmarks remained on course for a weekly fall of about 12 percent after Wednesday's 9.73 percent crash, when markets bet on a US-Iran settlement after the midterm results.

Source: Hindu BusinessLine; HDFC Sky (CNBC/Reuters data), Nov 6, 2026

Inside Iran, the fear of a strike is visible in a quieter way. The Times of London reported on Friday that Iran is distributing iodine tablets to communities living within two to three kilometres of its nuclear facilities, quoting a health ministry official: "Yes, we are distributing iodine… Trump can no longer be trusted. He may go through with this crime." The report — so far a single-source account that no other major outlet has independently confirmed — is a precaution against possible radiation exposure if sites such as the fortified Pickaxe Mountain complex near Natanz are hit. No strike has taken place and no radiation has been released.

Source: The Times via Signal Post News, Nov 6, 2026

For the lakhs of Punjabi and Indian workers across the Gulf — in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait and Oman — the difference between Trump's two lines is not academic. A genuine Hormuz reopening would ease fuel prices, protect remittances and normalise flights and shipping; a return to strikes would put workers, ports and energy sites back in the line of fire. That is why Gulf capitals, led by Qatar, are pushing both sides to settle for an imperfect deal now rather than gamble on a perfect one later.

What happens next: Trump's own decision — strikes, pressure, or a deal — is still formally pending, and one signal watched by analysts is the third US carrier group: the USS Theodore Roosevelt strike group is in Singapore from Friday and will not reach the Central Command area before mid-November, US officials said. Qatar's mediation continues in the meantime, and Iran's review of the proposals sent through Doha is the next dated step on the diplomatic track.