TEHRAN, October 30 (Aalimi Nation) – A Qatari delegation arrived in Tehran on Friday for talks with Iranian officials, as mediators try to restart negotiations between Iran and the United States, Iranian state media said.
The delegation is led by a senior adviser to Qatar's prime minister, according to Iran's state news agency IRNA. It said the group would discuss "bilateral relations… as well as regional developments" with senior Iranian officials. The adviser and the Iranian counterparts were not named, and no details of the discussions had been released by the time of writing.
The visit follows a Qatari mission to Tehran on Sunday. A US official briefed on the diplomacy said Qatar presented Iran with a draft deal to end the war and that a response was expected by the end of the week, most likely on Saturday. A senior Iranian official had earlier denied receiving a new proposal and said the ideas brought by Qatar were unacceptable, adding that Tehran would show no flexibility on the nuclear issue.
Qatari mediators also passed a letter from US Vice President JD Vance to Mohsen Rezaei, who heads Iran's Supreme National Security Council. The letter has not been published. US media reports said it proposed an early meeting, with Vance leading the American delegation, and that Iran's nuclear programme would have to be on the table from the start. Iran has confirmed it received the letter but has not responded publicly.
President Donald Trump has given a different account of its purpose. He said the outreach was largely about getting supplies in "to help people who are not well", and that he had not sought to revive peace talks. He has said he is still weighing whether to resume major military operations or make a deal after the November 3 midterm elections.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X on Wednesday that Iran "continues to give diplomacy a chance to succeed" and that Tehran was reviewing ideas with intermediaries. Iranian state-affiliated media said Iran would not drop its core ceasefire conditions, which include lifting the US blockade of Iranian ports, easing sanctions and releasing frozen assets. Tehran has also linked any reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to a package of conditions that includes a regional ceasefire.
The diplomacy is under way alongside rising tension at sea. Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Thursday that oil tankers had hit mines while using what it called an unauthorised southern route through the Strait of Hormuz. The UK Maritime Trade Operations centre confirmed that one vessel was seen on fire. Tanker counts differ between accounts, and the Guards' claims have not been independently verified.
Iran's formal reply to the Vance letter and to the Qatari draft is awaited. If Tehran accepts the approach, a meeting between US and Iranian officials could take place as early as next week, with Qatar or Türkiye mentioned as possible venues, according to US media reports citing officials. Neither government has commented on the outcome of Friday's meetings.
