Iran says it has conveyed its conditions for ending the war to the United States through a Qatari mediator in New York (Express Tribune).
The conditions
Foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei, speaking to IRNA, listed:
– an end to the war “on all fronts” – a halt to what Tehran calls US “acts of aggression” – an end to the naval blockade and economic warfare – the release of Iranian assets
Why this matters beyond its content
Because of who carried it. For a week Pakistan has been named as a mediator by the UN secretary general and pointed to by China’s foreign minister, and its prime minister is in New York to argue for negotiation.
The message that actually moved went through Qatar.
That does not diminish Pakistan’s channel, which exists and which both Washington and Tehran have acknowledged. It does indicate which channel Tehran chose when it had something specific to transmit — and Qatar has carried US-Iran messages before, including over the Doha process and prisoner exchanges.
Being named a mediator and being used as one are different things, and this is evidence about the second.
Where the American position stands
US ambassador Mike Waltz said on 21 September that the “door is open” and dismissed reports that Iran had demanded an end to sanctions and reparations as preconditions.
Baghaei’s list includes the release of Iranian assets and an end to economic warfare. Those are, in substance, the conditions Waltz said were not being demanded.
One of those accounts is incomplete. The reporting does not establish which.
The explosion at Qeshm
State media reported an explosion near Qeshm Island in Hormozgan, inside the Strait of Hormuz. IRNA said the noise came “from the direction of the sea rather than land”, and authorities said no rockets or missiles struck the island. The source has not been explained.
Qeshm is where a merchant vessel was struck on 13 September, killing one.
Oil
Crude fell about $1 on a better supply outlook and hopes for talks.
What is not established
Qatar has not confirmed carrying the message, and the United States has not acknowledged receiving it. No response, venue or timetable has been reported, and the cause of the Qeshm explosion remains unexplained.
[Image: The Express Tribune]
