Iran-US deal still out of reach despite diplomatic push, Iranian official says

By Parisa Hafezi DUBAI, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Iran and the United States remain far from a deal to end the war, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Tuesday, despite intensified diplomatic efforts to avert a return to major conflict after the US midterm elections. Overnight, the US carried out "defensive" strikes on Iran's Qeshm island, with a US official saying the strikes targeted surface-to-air missiles used against US assets. Another official said the strikes appeared to be limited and did not signal a resumption of major combat operations.

Qatar has stepped up mediation efforts amid fears the conflict launched by the United States and Israel in February could reignite after Tuesday's elections. "Mediators are working hard to narrow gaps between Tehran and Washington," the senior Iranian official said, after Qatari mediators travelled to Tehran on Monday night for talks on a version of a draft US-Iran deal that has been under negotiation for the past eight days. "Tehran's conditions must be met if the US wants Hormuz reopened," the Iranian official cautioned, referring to the waterway critical for global energy supplies.

Qatar said on Tuesday that both the United States and Iran remained committed to mediation efforts and were reviewing proposals put forward by mediators. While the Qatari team that travelled to Tehran had since returned to Doha, talks were continuing, Qatar's foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said. "There are intensive joint regional efforts underway to avoid escalation," he told a news briefing, adding that Qatar remained hopeful a deal could still be reached to pave the way for future negotiations.

The Iranian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said nuclear talks could only start after Iran's conditions were fulfilled and that Tehran would not accept Washington's "excessive demands". Tehran would respond forcefully, in the region and beyond, to US strikes, the official added. Oil prices rose by about $1 on Tuesday, having dropped more than 7% the previous day on hopes diplomacy was progressing. Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they downed a US MQ-9 drone and two Lucas drones in the skies near the Strait of Hormuz.

QALIBAF: THE BALL IS IN WASHINGTON'S COURT Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said the ball was in Washington's court after Tehran had delivered what he described as a "strong and rational response". "The enemy seeks to force the Iranian nation into submission through threats and military action, but they are sorely mistaken; Iran will not submit," Qalibaf said, adding that Tehran's response to any miscalculation by the US would be unpredictable and disregard geographical constraints.

Countries across the region have been bracing for the possibility that US President Donald Trump could resume attacks once Tuesday's midterms are over. But Trump cast doubt on Monday about whether he would follow through on threats to resume military strikes after the vote, saying he believed Tehran wanted a deal as soon as possible and that such an agreement "could happen." Asked by reporters if he was considering striking Iran after the midterms, Trump replied, "No."

The head of Iran's armed forces general staff, Ali Abdollahi, said Iran's military was updating its target lists to include US and Israeli material and non-material assets and would respond immediately to any threat, without geographical limits. Since Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei ordered the armed forces to respond immediately and without "geographic limits" to any enemy threat, Iranian officials and media outlets have increasingly raised the prospect of striking bases beyond the region that are used to launch attacks on Iran.

Hardline newspaper Kayhan said on Tuesday that US facilities in Britain, Italy, Greece, Romania, Albania and Cyprus could be targeted by Iranian missiles in the event of renewed war. IRANIAN-SAUDI TALKS In parallel with the exchange of messages between Tehran and Washington through intermediaries, regional diplomatic efforts are continuing to prevent further escalation. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Tuesday that talks with Saudi Arabia were continuing to seek new regional security arrangements that would exclude foreign military involvement.

Last week, top officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan met Iranian officials in Tehran, the first high-level contact between Iran and the three nations since August. The US-Israeli war on Iran started in late February and since then, fighting has spread to Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Riyadh said the visit was intended to open negotiating channels to "prevent the return of military escalation," as fighting between Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis had intensified.

Houthi attacks on the kingdom escalated as the powerful militia advanced towards the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a key shipping chokepoint that lies on the opposite side of the Arabian Peninsula from the Strait of Hormuz. The Houthis have also attacked Saudi oil facilities and airports including Riyadh's international airport, disrupting flights and oil exports and drawing Saudi air strikes on Yemen in response. Impoverished Yemen has been mired in a civil war since the Houthis pushed the internationally recognised, Saudi-backed government out of the capital, Sanaa, in 2014. (Reporting by Parisa Hafezi, Nayera Abdallah, Jana ; Writing by Dubai Newsroom and Tom Perry, Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus, Raju Gopalakrishnan and Ros Russell)