Iran and US stay apart on Hormuz as Qatar and Pakistan press mediation

Qatar and Pakistan are leading diplomatic efforts to end the eight-month war between the United States and Iran, Republica reported, citing AFP. The war began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February. Even so, the two governments gave conflicting accounts this week of whether any talks are taking place.

Tehran says it could reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the main exit route for Gulf energy shipments, within two days if Washington accepts its conditions. According to Republica and The Hindu, these include stopping the fighting on every front, releasing frozen Iranian assets, dropping oil sanctions and lifting the US blockade of Iranian ports. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told the IRNA news agency that the conflict will not be settled by force or by tighter sanctions, and that the way forward is diplomacy, "a language of respect" and attention to Iran's demands.

President Donald Trump, who met Qatar's prime minister at the White House on Monday, said he saw "positive momentum" toward ending the conflict, Republica reported. A Qatari foreign ministry official, Ibrahim Al-Hashmi, confirmed "progress" in the negotiations and said the mediator was making a "persistent and earnest effort" to narrow the gaps. Speaking in Paris after a G7 foreign ministers' meeting on Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the economic campaign against Iran was so damaging that "right now there is no need for major combat operations", according to The Hindu. Hindustan Times reported that he also called some of Tehran's demands unrealistic and "absurd", and said the economic pressure would intensify. Republica and The Hindu both say Washington has toned down its threats of fresh strikes since Trump's Republican Party lost last week's midterm elections.

Iran's account is different. Its top security official, Mohsen Rezaei, said in an interview with Lebanon's Al Mayadeen that no negotiations are under way between Tehran and Washington, The Hindu reported; DW also carried the denial. He said Iran had asked the US for a "clear and explicit" response to its conditions and had not yet received one. In a post on X quoted by Republica, he dismissed talk of negotiations as fake news. In televised remarks reported by The Hindu, Rezaei also said Iran would not let any of its enriched nuclear material leave the country, because it needs the material to design nuclear-powered ships and submarines, and warned that any new US attack would be answered with strikes on US bases far from Iran.

Ships continue to come under attack in and around the Strait of Hormuz, The Hindu reported of Tuesday's events. The Emirati state oil company ADNOC said one of its vessels was damaged in an attack in UAE waters, and the British maritime agency UKMTO said a tanker was struck by an unknown projectile off the coast of Oman. Iran's Revolutionary Guards said three oil tankers were on fire in the strait, though it was unclear whether they meant the same ships. Republica, citing AFP, reported that in Saudi Arabia the coalition fighting Yemen's Houthis said it had intercepted a ballistic missile launched by the group. Britain's Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, speaking in Paris, said the "no war, no peace" stalemate was causing deep economic pain and called for an all-out diplomatic effort to end the conflict, The Hindu reported.

On Thursday, CNBC reported that Trump wrote in a Truth Social post that the US does not need "a deal with Iran", adding that Washington has "their money" and "their Strait". CNBC said the remarks fed worries in oil markets that an end to the war is not in sight.