The Middle East is bracing for a possible return to all-out war amid concerns that the United States and Israel could launch fresh strikes against Iran shortly after Tuesday’s US midterm elections.
Two Iranian officials said their delegation had left Qatar after days of discussions, but messages with Washington continued to be exchanged through the mediator.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks.
The diplomatic efforts aim to prevent renewed attacks.
Tehran has intensified its threats but said it is awaiting Washington’s response to a proposal that would fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz to shipping within two days, provided the United States meets several conditions, reports Associated Press.
US President Donald Trump told reporters on Sunday evening that he had a “very good” telephone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday.
He said they discussed Iran but offered no further details.
Even before Netanyahu and his allies lost their parliamentary majority in last week’s election, concerns had been mounting that the Israeli prime minister was pushing for fresh strikes against Iran to remain in power through an emergency government during renewed conflict.
Since Tuesday’s election, Netanyahu has publicly commented only on the vote.
Neither Netanyahu nor his office has provided details of the latest conversation with Trump, who has continued to alternate between expressing interest in negotiations with Iran and threatening devastating military action.
“The standoff in the Gulf between the US and Iran is really between Qatar and Israel,” Andreas Krieg, a professor at King’s College London, said on X.
“Qatar is tirelessly working on a diplomatic offramp with the region’s backing while Israel is looking for military ways to throw the region under the bus,” he added.
Iran has intensified its public messaging amid the uncertainty, declaring its readiness for both diplomacy and renewed fighting.
The country’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, met with military chiefs and said any response to “any kind and level of threat” from the US or Israel should be immediate and without “geographic limits”.
He also called for an expansion of the list of potential targets.
Khamenei has not appeared publicly since Israel and the US launched their opening strikes on February 28, killing his father, the previous supreme leader.
Iran’s security chief, Mohsen Rezaei, warned on X that any attack would trigger “devastating blows on the aggressor using new weapons”.
In an interview with state television, Rezaei said “the tone has completely changed” in Washington, describing it as a “very good sign”.
He provided no details about a letter he received from US Vice-President JD Vance, which Iran acknowledged last week, and said he had not responded.
Rezaei also said no decision had been taken to change Iran’s nuclear doctrine. However, he acknowledged that some Iranians had questioned whether it should be revised if the country came under attack again.
Tehran has maintained that its nuclear programme is peaceful.
Washington wants to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and intends to address the issue in any new negotiations. Iran, however, wants to postpone nuclear discussions until a later stage.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who was on a one-day visit to neighbouring Turkmenistan on Monday, said the final outcome depended on Washington’s responses to what he called the “Iranian questions”.
Further attacks on commercial vessels were reported in the Strait of Hormuz during October, making it the busiest month for reported assaults since March, when the war began.
The mood was grim at the Manama Dialogue, an annual security summit in Bahrain organised by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
“We don’t really want to see another round of confrontation in the region,” United Arab Emirates presidential adviser Anwar Gargash told attendees.
Gargash acknowledged that “the rules of logic” showed the US and Iranian positions remained far apart, warning that failure to bridge the differences meant the region had to “worry about the worst”.
Gulf nations have spent billions of dollars strengthening their defence capabilities since the war began.
The UAE has faced the highest number of Iranian attacks, with more than 3,000 drones and ballistic missiles targeting airports, military installations and oil facilities, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
Most were intercepted.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty warned the gathering that “the second round (of escalation) will be more dangerous, more destructive, and it will lead to nowhere”.
Meanwhile, China will send a special envoy to Iran, Oman and Saudi Arabia in early to mid-November, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters on Monday.
“The Middle East Gulf region should not become an arena for great-power rivalry and geopolitical conflict,” Chinese President Xi Jinping said during a meeting with Oman’s sultan, according to a statement from China’s Foreign Ministry.
The two countries called for a return to dialogue.
