Behind closed doors in the Gulf, diplomats are trying to coax a wary Iran back to the negotiating table, and the task is as delicate as crossing a tightrope in a storm.
According to The Wall Street Journal, mediators are urging Tehran to soften its stand on its nuclear program in the hope of reviving ceasefire talks with Washington. They admit it is a long shot. The effort follows President Donald Trump’s rejection of an Iranian offer for a seven-day truce that would have reopened the Strait of Hormuz and lifted the US blockade of Iranian ports. So far, Iran has shown little willingness to discuss its nuclear ambitions, and Arab mediators say it has made no concessions since the rejection. Gulf officials add that Tehran wants Washington to move first.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi kept both doors open. “We are fully prepared for the war to resume,” he told NBC News, yet he insisted Iran stands ready for diplomacy. “It is up to President Trump to choose,” he said, adding that he and President Pezeshkian had not come to New York “to sell a war,” but to forge peace.
Trump, meanwhile, told reporters Iran wants a deal because it is “losing so badly,” though he told Axios he expects more talks this week. Iran wants Washington to return to a June memorandum that promised to reopen the strait and, eventually, begin nuclear negotiations in exchange for sanctions relief, unfrozen funds and an end to the blockade. US officials say Trump no longer wants that deal. A senior Middle Eastern official said Iran could compromise on nuclear issues, but only with firm assurances that Israel would not strike again. Qatar’s prime minister, whose country carries messages between the two capitals, admitted that “this conflict is very complex.”
The cost of the deadlock is not only diplomatic. NBC News reported that eight US Marines were hurt on September 14 when an Iranian anti ship missile struck a vessel they were aboard in the strait. They suffered smoke inhalation and possible concussions, and all returned to duty soon after. Their injuries reached the Pentagon’s database nearly ten days later. It now lists 861 US service members injured since the war began in February.
Iran’s army chief, Amir Hatam, warned that “if Iran cannot trade, if Iran cannot live, no one will be able to trade or live.” As ships hesitate at the narrow waterway and both sides wait, the world watches to see who blinks first.
