Iranian negotiators depart Doha with draft deal proposal in circulation as Hormuz talks move to next stage
Iranian negotiators have left Doha after three days of Qatar-mediated talks, with a draft proposal for a deal with the United States now being circulated for feedback and a follow-up meeting possible, an official briefed on the talks said on Monday.
Iranian negotiators have left Doha after three days of talks with Qatari mediators aimed at ending the war with the United States, and a draft proposal is now being circulated for feedback, an official briefed on the discussions told Reuters on Monday. A follow-up meeting is possible, the official added, but no details of the draft itself have been made public.
The first point to be clear about is what the departure does not mean. The negotiators left on Sunday, but not because the talks ran into difficulty, according to the official. That matters because a delegation walking out is often read as a breakdown; in this case, the account given to Reuters is the opposite — that the team left with work in hand, in the form of a draft to be considered, rather than with the process collapsed. Arab News, reporting the same development on Monday, likewise records that the departure was not attributed to difficulties in the talks.
What is actually in the draft is not yet known. The official briefed on the talks gave no further details, and neither Washington nor Tehran has published a text. That silence is normal at this stage of an indirect negotiation, where a draft is typically shared through mediators so that each side can react without committing publicly. It also means the significance of this moment should not be overstated: a draft in circulation is a step in a negotiation, not an agreement, and it can still be amended, rejected or left to drift.
The framework around the draft is clearer. Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday that the basis of the talks is a seven-step plan Iran drew up in September to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the US naval blockade on Iran. Tehran is now suggesting that plan could be implemented on a faster timeline under a deal — a point that connects this development directly to the two-day proposal reported over the weekend, under which Hormuz could reopen within two days of an agreement rather than within the seven days originally envisaged.
Baghaei also set out, in unusually explicit terms, what Tehran says must happen first. “Our demands have been articulated very clearly and transparently. These demands are reasonable and logical: no final agreement can be initiated, nor can the Strait of Hormuz be reopened or secured, unless the US naval blockade is brought to an end, Iran’s demands are respected, and Iran’s legitimate requirements are addressed,” he said. In a separate statement carried by Arab News, he described the possibility of implementing the plan in two days as “another indication of Iran’s good-faith approach” and said that, if Iran’s demands were met, it would be possible to restore security to the strait and resume the negotiating process within a short period.
The mechanics of the talks explain why so much of this is being reported through intermediaries rather than as direct statements from both sides. Baghaei said deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi had been in Doha to facilitate the exchange of messages with Washington via Qatari intermediaries. There have been no direct US-Iran negotiations in this round; Qatar has acted as the channel, carrying messages in both directions. That structure also explains the careful wording of the reports: what is known comes from officials briefed on the talks and from Tehran’s public statements, while Washington has not publicly commented on the draft itself.
The background to the weekend’s talks is a sequence that has moved quickly. On Saturday, Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera quoted Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi as saying that under a deal, Hormuz could be opened within a two-day timeline rather than within the seven days originally envisaged. Reuters notes that Iran’s initial proposal was rejected by US President Donald Trump. On Sunday, Araghchi said the consultations with Qatari mediators were ongoing and progressing, that Tehran remained prepared for both defence and diplomacy, and that no final conclusion had been reached on the two-day arrangement. The departure of the negotiators later that day, followed by news of a draft in circulation, is the next chapter in that sequence — not a separate story, but a development that moves it from discussion of a timetable to a document that can be answered.
The wider context is the calendar. The talks are taking place days before the US midterm elections on Tuesday, and both sides are openly aware of that timing. Trump has said the United States would not launch new attacks on Iran before the vote and has described the talks with Tehran as productive, although he has not ruled out further military action afterwards. Asked about Tehran’s view of the midterms, Baghaei said Tehran did not expect the elections to “give birth to a new US” — a blunt way of saying that Iran does not expect American policy to change fundamentally because of the vote. At the same time, Iran has repeatedly warned that any fresh attacks would prompt retaliation against US and Israeli targets in neighbouring countries, a warning that hangs over every diplomatic signal.
The stakes go well beyond the negotiating table, which is why markets have reacted to even tentative signs of progress. Oil prices fell by around 3 per cent on Monday morning as hopes of a diplomatic breakthrough eased fears of further supply disruption, after Brent crude had ended October at a six-month high. The eight-month-old conflict has already disrupted global oil supplies and heightened instability across the Middle East, and the Strait of Hormuz — through which a large share of the world’s seaborne oil passes — remains the single most sensitive point in the confrontation. A credible path to reopening it, even a conditional one, is therefore watched far beyond the Gulf.
What happens next will be decided by reactions that have not yet been made public. The first test is whether Washington responds to the draft, and in what terms: acceptance, counter-proposals, or silence. The second is whether a follow-up meeting is actually convened, and whether it brings the parties closer to a text both can sign. The third is what happens on the water in the meantime, where shipping incidents in recent days have shown how quickly a diplomatic opening can be overtaken by events. Until those answers arrive, the honest summary is this: the Doha talks have produced a draft and a possible next meeting, but no agreement, no accepted terms and no confirmed date for Hormuz to reopen — and the proposal remains conditional on the United States meeting demands that Washington has not publicly accepted.
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