TEHRAN — A delegation from Qatar, a main mediator in efforts to avert fresh fighting between the US and Iran, arrived in Tehran on Friday for talks with senior officials, Iranian state media reported.Led by a senior adviser to Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, the delegation arrived in Iran as concern mounts that US President Donald Trump is preparing to attack the Islamic Republic after midterm elections scheduled to be held on Nov. 3.The visit comes amid renewed efforts to bring the two sides back to the negotiating table after previous attempts to reach an agreement stalled.The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that US Vice President JD Vance had sent a letter to Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei in an attempt to revive stalled negotiations.Tehran received the message but had yet to respond, a senior Iranian official told the semi-official Fars news agency on Thursday.Vance’s letter, delivered to Rezaei through Qatari mediators on Sunday, proposed direct talks led by Vance, with Iran’s nuclear program on the table from the start, in a bid to prevent a renewal of strikes, according to The New York Times.Over the past week, Washington and Tehran have sent mixed signals about whether their eight-month war is heading back to full-scale strikes or towards a peace deal.On Thursday, head of United States Central Command Admiral Brad Cooper briefed US President Donald Trump on options for renewed attacks on Iran.The Wall Street Journal reported that the US has boosted air defences and munitions in the region and moved some troops away from bases vulnerable to Iranian retaliation.Ten US military cargo planes landed at the Ovda and Nevatim air bases in Israel’s Negev region on Thursday, with more sent to Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported.Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, who said he had been briefed on the plans, called them “insane” and warned of a devastating escalation.Vance, meanwhile, told Fox News on Thursday that Trump would “never” let the conflict become “a forever war”.Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told Al Jazeera in September that Iran no longer trusts negotiations with Washington because attacks had come during previous rounds of talks.Nader Hashemi, a professor of Middle East politics at Georgetown University, said he suspects “the same pattern is repeating itself”, with the US preparing “a massive bombing campaign in Iran, replete with war crimes like we haven’t seen before”.The conflict began on Feb. 28, when the US and Israel launched military strikes against Iran. Tehran subsequently retaliated with attacks targeting Israel and US positions in several Arab countries.Washington and Tehran reached a framework agreement in June and later entered negotiations. However, the diplomatic process broke down amid disagreements over freedom of navigation and maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz.
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