Iran War: Doha Talks End Without a Breakthrough as Trump Weighs Strikes After the Midterms

Featured photo: The skyline of Doha, Qatar, where Iranian negotiators met Qatari mediators over the weekend (file photo; the image shows the city, not the talks). Photo: Zairon, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.

Iran said Monday, Nov. 2, that contacts with the United States to end the eight-month Iran war are continuing, after three days of Qatari-led talks in Doha ended with revised proposals but no breakthrough, Reuters reported via Al-Monitor. The diplomacy is running against a clock: President Donald Trump has said there will be no new attack on Iran before Tuesday’s U.S. midterm elections, but he keeps warning that strikes could resume if talks fail.

For deaths, U.S. costs, missile launches and Strait of Hormuz shipping since February, see our Iran war tracker.

What came out of the Doha talks

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called the mediated consultations “very intensive” and said Iran had presented its conditions and proposals, adding that the outcome depends on Washington, according to Reuters. An official briefed on the talks said Iran’s delegation left Doha on Sunday for reasons unrelated to problems in the talks and that a draft was circulating. A follow-up meeting could come in the coming days, Fox News reported, citing an official who said negotiators had reached a framework that was now out for feedback.

Araghchi said Iran had no plans to meet U.S. officials directly, Iran International reported. Iranian sources told Reuters they still believed a new U.S. attack was more likely than a deal.

Iran’s seven-step plan, now on a two-day clock

Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said the seven-step plan Iran submitted in September remains the basis for talks and has been condensed so it could be carried out within two days, Reuters reported. Trump rejected that plan in September.

Under the plan, the United States would end its blockade of Iranian ports, Iran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Washington would issue a waiver for Iranian oil sales and new sanctions would be canceled, with other issues discussed afterward. Baghaei said Iran would return to nuclear talks only after it verifies its conditions are met, and he denied that sending Iran’s highly enriched uranium abroad had been discussed.

Washington: in no hurry, but the threat stays on the table

At a Sunday rally in Iowa, Trump said the United States may eventually have to give Iran “the hammer” and predicted the war would be over very soon, Fox News reported. He has also said one or two Iranian nuclear sites still need to be dealt with, naming a suspected complex at Pickaxe Mountain, CBS News reported. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Trump had not decided on further strikes and prefers a diplomatic solution, according to Iran International.

Axios reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Trump during a call on Saturday to renew strikes right after the midterms, and that Trump said he would rather let the talks play out. Israel’s U.N. envoy denied that Netanyahu was pressing for new strikes, Iran International reported. The Atlantic, citing two sources outside the administration, reported that a new U.S. operation could come soon after the vote, The Times of Israel noted.

Iran says it would answer any renewed attack with strikes on targets inside and outside the Middle East, Reuters reported. Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei warned Saturday that a new round of fighting would have no geographic limits, according to CBS News.

Attacks at sea and on Saudi Arabia continue

The violence has not stopped while the talks go on. Britain’s UKMTO said a tanker was struck by two projectiles about 72 nautical miles east of Saudi Arabia’s Ras al-Khafji, with all crew accounted for, and later reported a vessel hit by a projectile off Oman with the crew safe, Khaleej Times reported. Iranian state media said an oil tanker hit a mine in the Strait of Hormuz [!Unverified claim, Iranian state media]. On Friday, the Qatari LNG carrier Al Mayeda was struck by unidentified objects in the Gulf, with no crew injuries reported, CBS News reported. We covered the Khafji attack in Two Projectiles Hit a Tanker Off Saudi Arabia as Iran Claims Its Mines Struck Two More Near Hormuz.

The Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted a Houthi missile and two drones launched toward Riyadh, and the Houthis said they sent drones toward Dammam airport, Khaleej Times reported.

Russia and China weigh in

Russia’s Foreign Ministry expressed extreme concern about reports of new military action against Iran and called for more diplomacy, and President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone with Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Reuters reported. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged all sides to seek a political solution after meeting Iranian and Saudi security officials in Beijing.

Russia, which is urging diplomacy on Iran, is at the same time escalating its drone war on Ukraine. Our Ukraine war tracker follows that conflict’s daily numbers, and today we reported Zelensky’s warning of a massive Russian strike timed to the U.S. vote.

What to watch

The next signals are whether Qatar schedules another round, whether Washington answers Iran’s condensed plan, and whether shipping attacks in the Gulf ease or spread. For casualty counts, interceptions, U.S. costs and oil data in one place, see our Iran war stats, updated as new official figures come in.

Sources

• Reuters via Al-Monitor: Iran says contacts over ending war continue after talks finish with no breakthrough
• Iran International: Israel denies pressing Trump for Iran strikes amid diplomatic push
• Fox News: Trump says ‘no rush’ to resume Iran strikes as Tehran talks hang in the balance
• CBS News: Live updates on the Iran war and negotiations
• Khaleej Times: Iran war live updates, Nov. 2, 2026
• The Times of Israel: Liveblog, Nov. 1–2, 2026