Tehran's negotiators leave Doha with no breakthrough in talks

Contacts between Iran and the United States to end their eight-month war are continuing, Tehran said on Monday, after days of Iranian talks with Qatari mediators ended with altered proposals but no breakthrough.

"Consultations through mediators are very intensive. We have presented our conditions and proposals and everything depends on the political rationality of Washington," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in comments carried by state media outlet IRNA.

Amid fears the conflict could reignite after Tuesday's midterm elections in the United States, China and Russia both spoke out on Monday against the possibility of renewed military action in a war that has hit the global economy.


sources say aTTACK LIKELY

While oil prices fell nearly 4% on Monday on hopes that the latest round of mediation could lead to a diplomatic solution to the crisis, Iranian sources said they believed a new US attack was still more likely than a deal.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the plan Iran had submitted in September to end the war remained the focus of discussions, but he confirmed comments attributed to Araqchi on Saturday that the proposal could be shortened.

"The basis of dialogue and talks between Iran and the US via mediators is still Iran's seven-step proposal, which is now condensed, making it possible to implement it within two days," he said.

US President Donald Trump rejected the seven-step proposal in September. The plan would call for the US to end its blockade on Iranian ports,

Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz waterway, a US waiver on Iranian oil sales, the cancellation of new sanctions on Iran and then talks on other issues.

Baghaei reiterated that condensing the plan would not change Iran's underlying stance that a return to talks on the country's nuclear programme could only happen after it verified that all its conditions were met.

Asked whether the possibility of transferring Iran's highly enriched uranium stockpile to another country was raised in the talks, and whether Iran might agree to that, he said no. An official briefed on the talks said Iran's negotiators had left on Sunday but not because of any problems in the talks, and added that a draft proposal was being circulated without elaborating.

RUSSIAN,CHINESE CONCERNS

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Monday that all parties to the conflict should focus on political solutions rather than resorting to arms again, after a meeting with senior Iranian security official Ali Bagheri Kani in Beijing.

Wang also met Saudi Arabia's national security advisor Musaed bin Mohammed al-Aiban in Beijing on Monday, China's Foreign Ministry said.

In Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry said reports of new military action against Iran were a cause for extreme concern and called for increased diplomatic efforts. President Putin spoke by phone with Iran's top security official Mohsen Rezaei on Monday, Iranian state media reported. Underscoring the risks to global energy a Qatari LNGtanker was struck in the Gulf by unidentified objects on Friday.