War in the Middle East: negotiations have stopped after the “shock” of the American elections, Iran announces

Diplomatic negotiations which had recently intensified with a view to resolving the conflict in the Middle East have come to a standstill due to the “shock” caused by the debacle of Donald Trump’s camp in the “midterms”, said the head of Iranian diplomacy, Abbas Araghchi, on Sunday.

“For several days, there has been no more travel (on the part of the mediators), and the reason is the shock that the results of the elections in the United States have caused in everyone,” Abbas Araghchi said on state television.

“It will take some time before the atmosphere is favorable for the resumption of mediator travel. We have to be patient,” he added.

In a message on X, however, he urged the American president to decide on the plan proposed by Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. “American voters have made their choice. It is time for the White House to do its own,” he wrote, assuring that the Iranian proposal to reopen, under conditions, this strategic maritime passage “still stands”. “Meet the conditions, including ending the war on all fronts, and you will see results. Or choose war, and you will see our vigilant and seasoned warriors unleash hell,” he challenged Washington.

As is often the case during Iranian-American negotiations, the story is very different on the American side. US President Donald Trump said on Sunday it was "highly unlikely" that he would order further attacks on Iran as long as talks to end the conflict progress, CNN reported, citing a telephone interview with Donald Trump.

The American president recognized that the conflict, by causing oil prices to soar, had largely contributed to the electoral debacle of his party. Diplomatic efforts for a settlement of the conflict, triggered at the end of February by American-Israeli strikes on Tehran, had intensified before the mid-term elections on Tuesday. And after the election, the Prime Minister of Qatar, mediator country, Mohammed ben Abdelrahmane al-Thani, affirmed Friday evening that on the American side “the intention remained, as was the desire to take measures to find a solution.”

Meanwhile, the US military announced on Saturday that it planned to create a task force to block land routes to Iran - where it says weapons and illegal goods are being transported - increasing economic pressure on the country, whose ports are already subject to a US naval blockade in response to Tehran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran recently reiterated its readiness to reopen the Strait of Hormuz - within two days - if Washington accepted, in addition to a ceasefire, a thaw of its assets held abroad, the lifting of sanctions hitting its oil sector and the end of the naval blockade. The United States rejected a first offer to this effect this summer.