Iran Reviews Qatari Proposals on Nuclear Program as Talks Hopes Rise After US Midterms

Iran is studying a set of proposals handed over by Qatar, the chief mediator in the war with the United States, that are meant to narrow the two countries' differences over Tehran's nuclear program. Two Middle East government officials described the review on Friday. Neither was authorized to speak publicly about the delicate negotiations, and both asked not to be named.

The development has lifted hopes that the sides may be edging toward indirect talks on one of the hardest issues in the conflict, now more than eight months old. President Donald Trump has said the nuclear question must be settled as part of any deal to end the war. One of the officials cautioned, however, that for now Iran is unwilling to negotiate its atomic activities with the Trump administration until the U.S. accepts several core conditions Tehran wants built into any ceasefire.

Those conditions are an end to the U.S. blockade of Iran's ports, the lifting of sanctions, the unfreezing of Iranian assets, compensation for war damage, and a halt to hostilities across the region, including Israeli operations in Lebanon. Trump has rejected such concessions in the past.

The timing follows Tuesday's U.S. midterm elections, in which Republicans lost both chambers of Congress. The result was driven in part by voter dissatisfaction with how Trump has handled the war and by higher fuel prices, a consequence of the conflict that has touched nearly every sector of the global economy. The White House declined to comment on the Qatari proposals. Trump told reporters on Friday that mediators' talks with Iran are continuing. "We are talking to Iran. We have been," he said, while maintaining that the U.S. military remains in control of the conflict with a battered Iran.

Regional officials said Qatar and Iran have discussed a bridge deal to open the way to nuclear talks. The proposal, recently presented to both sides, calls for trust-building steps over two days. First, the U.S. blockade would be lifted and some of Iran's billions of dollars in frozen funds, seized over the years during a U.S. campaign to isolate Iran over its nuclear program, would be released. In return, Iran would let International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors into its sites bombed by the U.S. and Israel.

On the second day, Iran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz under a modified arrangement that Iran and Oman have reached but the United States has not approved. The officials said that mechanism would be temporary, lasting until a permanent deal on the strait is struck with other Gulf countries. After those steps, the U.S. and Iran would begin extensive talks on Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium and other parts of its program. Iran has long said its nuclear program is peaceful. The IAEA reports that Iran holds 440.9 kilograms (972 pounds) of uranium enriched to 60% purity, a short technical step from the 90% weapons-grade level.

A wave of phone diplomacy has followed the election, amid concern that Trump could still order new strikes on Iran. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth spoke Friday with his Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, according to the Qatari government, which also confirmed an earlier call between Trump and Qatar's emir about easing tensions. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi spoke with his Iraqi and Tunisian counterparts; Iraq's News Agency said he laid out Tehran's vision for resuming negotiations with the U.S. to Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, who has spoken with Araghchi twice this week, wrote on X that both sides must show "flexibility" to reach the "compromise solutions" needed to keep the region from a new round of escalation. He also called his Emirati counterpart, Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to stress political negotiation over another military confrontation. What to watch next is Washington's answer, since the Hormuz arrangement and the blockade terms both depend on U.S. approval.