Ghalibaf calls Iran’s response to Washington “firm and rational” as mediation stalls
Key Facts
Iranian parliament speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said in remarks carried by the Associated Press on November 3 that Iran had submitted a response he described as “firm and rational,” and urged the United States to prevent a renewed war. Ghalibaf did not explain the response’s contents, leaving Iran’s position undisclosed. He added that Iran remained ready to fight, using the phrase “with its finger on the trigger.” His remarks come as contacts through mediators have made no breakthrough, with Tehran’s terms and the path to reopening the Strait of Hormuz at the center of diplomatic efforts. Ghalibaf’s public stance portrays Tehran as maintaining military readiness while negotiations continue.
Talks between Iran and Qatari mediators ended with revised proposals but no agreement, according to a Reuters report published on November 2. The report said contacts through mediators continued after the talks ended, in an effort to keep the door to negotiations open. This reflects continued mediation despite the lack of decisive progress in the previous round. On the same day, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman said the basis for dialogue with the United States through mediators was Iran’s seven-step proposal. He added that the proposal had been shortened to make it executable within two days, while the report said Washington rejected it in September 2026.
The proposal, according to the Reuters report, calls for the United States to end its blockade of Iranian ports and for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. It also calls for Iranian oil sales to be exempted from sanctions and for new sanctions to be lifted before other issues are discussed. These provisions place the removal of maritime restrictions and oil sanctions at the center of the proposed settlement, alongside reopening the shipping lane. The report did not say these demands had been resolved or that the sides had agreed on an implementation sequence. The plan’s shortening to two days was also described by the Iranian spokesman as a possible execution period, not a timeline agreed by both sides.
In markets, oil prices fell nearly 4% on Monday, November 2, according to a Reuters report, amid hopes mediation could lead to a diplomatic solution. The move came in the session before Ghalibaf’s remarks were published on November 3. The report linked the decline to expectations of a settlement through diplomacy, not to Ghalibaf’s later remarks. The Strait of Hormuz remains a key route for energy supplies; about one-fifth of the world’s oil supply passes through it in peacetime, according to the Associated Press. This gives negotiations over shipping and the blockade direct significance for the oil market, while the cited coverage reported no announcement of an agreement restoring normal traffic.
Ghalibaf’s November 3 remarks came days after a separate statement by Mohsen Rezaei on managing traffic through the strait. The Associated Press reported on October 31 that Rezaei said ships, if the strait were reopened, should use a route agreed between Iran and Oman, and that passage would be managed by Iran. This places Tehran’s vision for managing shipping within the broader debate over reopening the waterway. Amid maritime risks, Tanker Company announced that a Qatari liquefied natural gas tanker had been struck by unidentified objects in the Gulf on Friday, according to a Reuters report published on Sunday. The report did not identify a link between the incident and the ongoing negotiations.
Diplomatic efforts continue as U.S. Vice President JD Vance expressed optimism about the possibility of reaching a negotiated settlement, saying the two sides “feel very good about the chances of a potential negotiated settlement.” China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi, meanwhile, urged the parties to the conflict to focus on political solutions rather than returning to arms. Two regional officials also told the Associated Press that mediators were working on a framework under which Iran would stop attacking ships in the strait in exchange for the United States lifting its blockade of Iranian ports. The officials said another round of talks was scheduled during the week. The proposed framework remains separate from any announced agreement, while Ghalibaf did not explain details of the Iranian response he described as firm and rational.