Iran Reviews Qatari Proposals on Nuclear Program as Talks With U.S. Show Faint Signs of Movement

On Friday, two Middle East government officials said Iran is reviewing proposals put forward by Qatar, the chief mediator in the war between Iran and the United States. The proposals are meant to bridge differences over Tehran's nuclear program, and they have raised hopes that the two sides may be inching toward indirect talks on what President Donald Trump says must be settled in any deal to end a war now more than eight months old.

The hope comes with a caveat. One of the officials stressed that, for now, Iran remains unwilling to negotiate with the Trump administration over its atomic activities until Washington accepts several core conditions Iran wants written into any ceasefire. Both officials spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to discuss the sensitive negotiations publicly.

Those conditions are specific: 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. According to the report, Trump has declined such concessions in the past.

The timing matters. The stepped-up engagement between Iran and Qatari officials came just days after Tuesday's midterm elections, in which Republicans lost both chambers of Congress. The setback was driven in part by voter dissatisfaction with how Trump has handled the conflict and by elevated fuel prices, a byproduct of a war that has touched nearly every sector of the global economy. The White House declined to comment on the Qatari proposals. Trump told reporters Friday, "We are talking to Iran. We have been," while insisting the U.S. military remains in control of the conflict with a battered Iran.

Regional officials described a potential bridge deal discussed by the mediators and Iran, recently presented by Qatar to both sides. It would run on trust-building steps over two days. First, the U.S. would lift its blockade and some of the billions of dollars in Iranian funds frozen over the years, under a U.S. campaign to isolate Iran over its nuclear program, would be released. In return, Iran would admit International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to 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, in place 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 aspects of its program.

That stockpile is the heart of the dispute. Iran has long said its nuclear program is peaceful. The IAEA says Iran holds 440.9 kilograms (972 pounds) of uranium enriched to up to 60% purity, a short technical step from the 90% weapons-grade level.

Diplomacy has picked up since the election. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth spoke Friday with Qatar's defense 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 de-escalation. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called his Iraqi and Tunisian counterparts; Iraq's News Agency said he laid out with Fuad Hussein Tehran's vision for resuming negotiations with the U.S. Concern persists that Trump could still order new strikes on Iran.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, who spoke with Araghchi twice this week, wrote on X that both sides must show "flexibility" to reach "compromise solutions" and keep the region from sliding into fresh escalation. He also called his Emirati counterpart, Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan. What to watch now is whether Washington accepts the sequencing of the bridge deal, and whether Iran softens its preconditions.