Gulf Truce: Qatar Delivers New Draft to Tehran

Qatari mediators delivered a new draft peace agreement to Iran on Sunday.

An official briefed on the talks said on Wednesday that Tehran is expected to reply by the end of the week. The document sets a seven-day timeline to resolve concerns between Washington and Tehran. It requires each side to take specific confidence-building steps every day of that period. The schedule could begin early next week. Several nations would act as guarantors for the arrangement.

Qatar and Pakistan have led the mediation efforts. The conflict, launched by the United States and Israel in February, has disrupted global shipping and oil supplies. Fighting has also spread to other parts of the Middle East. Before the Sunday meeting in Tehran, officials worried that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might order new attacks on the Islamic Republic. Netanyahu is currently campaigning for another term in a general election.

Tensions remain high on both sides of the table. President Donald Trump threatened to strike Iran again on Friday. Iranian security officials told Reuters that Tehran prepared detailed plans to attack undersea cables in the Gulf if hostilities resumed. This is not the first attempt to stop the fighting. Earlier mediation produced an interim peace agreement in June, but that deal fell apart quickly.

Regional instability has grown beyond the core conflict. Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis have conducted repeated attacks against Saudi Arabia in recent weeks. The Kingdom is the world's largest crude exporter. Iran's response to the Qatari draft will determine if this latest effort succeeds where the June agreement failed.