{"id":3822,"date":"2026-11-04T17:03:44","date_gmt":"2026-11-04T12:03:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=3822"},"modified":"2026-11-04T17:03:44","modified_gmt":"2026-11-04T12:03:44","slug":"iran-us-still-far-apart-on-deal-trump-says-ready-but-in-no-hurry-for-strikes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=3822","title":{"rendered":"Iran, US still far apart on deal; Trump says ready but in no hurry for strikes"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Iran and the United States are still far from a deal to end their war, a senior Iranian official told \u200bReuters on Tuesday, as US President Donald Trump declined to rule out a resumption of US combat operations after the elections in the United States.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Trump made his comments in separate interviews as Americans \u200cvoted in pivotal midterm elections in which the unpopular Iran war has been a key factor and as mediator Qatar stepped up efforts to avert a renewed escalation.<\/p>\n

Overnight, the United States carried out \u201cdefensive\u201d strikes on Iran\u2019s Qeshm island, targeting surface-to-air missiles used against US assets, a US official said. Another official said the strikes appeared limited and did not signal a return to major combat operations.<\/p>\n

Trump on Tuesday renewed warnings of military action in an interview with the Fox News Channel. \u201cI\u2019m not looking to \u2026 kill lots of people,\u201d he said. \u201cIf we have to, we\u2019ll have to.\u201d<\/p>\n

In \u200ban interview with the Financial Times, Trump suggested he was content with the state of the standoff with Iran.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe seem to be getting everything we want,\u201d the paper quoted him as saying in a six-minute \u200btelephone interview.<\/p>\n

The FT said it asked Trump about what it called \u201cstrong hints\u201d by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that there would be an attack later this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m ready, \u2060we\u2019re ready. We\u2019re locked and loaded if we need to go, but there may be no reason for it,\u201d he replied.<\/p>\n

Trump told the FT that indirect negotiations with Iran about its stockpile of enriched uranium were ongoing. \u201cWe\u2019re having \u200bdiscussions, and we\u2019ll see how that all works out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Also on Tuesday, Trump made a surprise announcement of a deal with Netanyahu under which Washington would stop $4 billion in annual funding to Israel after this year, but would \u200bsell weapons to its close Middle East ally. The remarks appeared aimed at swaying voters unhappy with US support for Israel.<\/p>\n

Fears have grown that the conflict launched by the United States and Israel in February could flare up again after Tuesday\u2019s midterms.<\/p>\n

\u201cMediators are working hard to narrow gaps between Tehran and Washington,\u201d the senior Iranian official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Qatari mediators travelled to Tehran on Monday night for talks on a version of a draft US-Iran deal discussed over the past eight days.<\/p>\n

\u201cTehran\u2019s conditions must be met \u200bif the US wants Hormuz reopened,\u201d the Iranian official cautioned, referring to Iranian demands including waiving oil sanctions, ending the US naval blockade and releasing frozen Iranian funds.<\/p>\n

Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran\u2019s Supreme National Security Council, later said the \u200bUS response to Iranian demands \u201cwas not convincing\u201d, adding that Washington \u201cmust fully and explicitly address Iran\u2019s seven conditions<\/u> and act upon them\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnly in this case will the Strait of Hormuz be reopened,\u201d he wrote on X.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u2018We cannot lose hope\u2019<\/h3>\n

Qatar\u2019s foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari \u200csaid both the \u2060United States and Iran were reviewing proposals put forward by mediators. While the Qatari team that travelled to Tehran had returned to Doha, talks were continuing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are intensive joint regional efforts underway to avoid escalation,\u201d he told a news briefing, adding that Qatar remained hopeful a deal could still be reached to pave the way for future negotiations.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there were no glimmer of hope, there would be no negotiations\u2026 and as a mediator, we cannot lose hope,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

An official briefed on the talks said feedback from Washington and Tehran was expected within the next 36 hours.<\/p>\n

A senior Iranian official told Reuters later on Tuesday that there is no deadline for exchanging messages with Washington through mediators or reviewing \u200bresponses.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u2018Forceful response\u2019<\/h3>\n

The senior Iranian official said Tehran would not \u200baccept Washington\u2019s \u201cexcessive demands\u201d and that nuclear talks could \u2060begin only after Iran\u2019s conditions were met.<\/p>\n

Tehran would respond forcefully, in the region and beyond, to US strikes, the official added.<\/p>\n

Oil prices slipped in early trade on Wednesday as investors awaited the results of the midterm elections and their potential impact on peace talks, even after industry data showed US crude stocks unexpectedly fell last week.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer \u200bQalibaf said the ball was in Washington\u2019s court after a \u201cstrong and rational response\u201d from Tehran.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe enemy seeks to force the Iranian nation into submission through threats and military \u200baction, but they are sorely mistaken; \u2060Iran will not submit,\u201d Qalibaf said. He said Tehran\u2019s response to any US miscalculation would be unpredictable and unconstrained by geography.<\/p>\n

The head of Iran\u2019s armed forces general staff, Ali Abdollahi, said Iran\u2019s military was updating target lists that included US and Israeli assets and would respond immediately to any threat.<\/p>\n

Hardline newspaper Kayhan said on Tuesday that US facilities in Britain, Italy, Greece, Romania, Albania and Cyprus could be targeted in the event of renewed war.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Iranian-Saudi talks<\/h3>\n

Alongside indirect exchanges between Tehran and Washington, regional powers \u2060are pursuing diplomatic \u200befforts to prevent further escalation. The conflict has also widened, with Yemen\u2019s Iran-aligned Houthis stepping up attacks on Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas \u200bAraqchi said on Tuesday that talks with Saudi Arabia were continuing to seek new regional security arrangements that would exclude foreign military involvement.<\/p>\n

Last week, senior officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan met Iranian counterparts in Tehran, the first such high-level contacts since August.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Iran and the United States are still far from a deal to end their war, a senior Iranian official told \u200bReuters on Tuesday, as US President Donald Trump declined to rule out a resumption of US combat operations after the elections in the United States. Trump made his comments in separate interviews as Americans \u200cvoted in pivotal midterm elections in which the unpopular Iran war has been a key factor and as mediator Qatar stepped up efforts to avert a renewed escalation. Overnight, the United States carried out \u201cdefensive\u201d strikes…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english"],"gutentor_comment":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3822\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}