Iran FM Araghchi calls US dialogue offer ‘a positive step’ as Iranian delegation visits Doha

Iran's supreme leader has ordered his military commanders to be combat ready to deter any threats from the U.S. and Israel. He's met the top commanders while also sending negotiators to Doha for talks to end the war with the U.S. Now, in the past few hours, Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has spoken exclusively to Al Jazeera, outlining Tehran's conditions. Those include lifting sanctions imposed after the collapse of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding and reducing the presence of U.S. forces in the region. Iran also wants the U.S. to restore the oil waivers it had granted in June as part of the MOU. The Iranian foreign minister says the U.S. should release all Iranian frozen funds, including those held in Qatar. Tehran is also demanding the recognition of a new shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz, established in coordination with Oman. It says all other routes should be closed, and it's continued to call for an end to the war on all fronts, including Israeli attacks on Lebanon. Muslim Jordan's in Washington. First, we're going to head to the Iranian capital. We're going to speak to Mohammad Val. Mohammad, with regard to this list that I've just read out, it seems as though there's not a great deal that has changed from the original demands that Iran has put forward. What's your take on what's being said? Well, from the tone and also from the content of Abbas Araghchi's statements, he seems to indicate that Iran is ready to even reduce at least the number of days for the implementation of the new deal that they have proposed to the Americans, instead of seven days at the beginning, and then instead also of the five days that the Qataris have asked for. Iran is now ready for implementing it in two days. So that is like an indication of Iran's eagerness to see these proposed points for a resolution implemented quickly. So Iran is ready to implement its side of this deal if the Americans agree on it. Of course, as you mentioned, there are those conditions that have been on the table. Thank you very much. Even in the memorandum of understanding, but also there are new points. Now the Iranians are talking about reducing or lifting the sanctions that were imposed after the... The memorandum of understanding failed, so that seems like a kind of stepping down a little bit from the previous demands, like Iran is giving what looks like a bit of a compromise there, but they are still insisting on the frozen funds to be returned, and also on the lifting of the blockade, and also on the ending of war on all fronts, including in Lebanon. So there is this language that at the same time that it is still resolute and still very hard or tough on what Iran is looking for, but also at the same time indications of readiness to do some kind of compromise so that this proposal can mark the end of this conflict. We know that all sides are. short on time because of the American ultimatum, what looked like an ultimatum after the midterm elections, which is just in two or three days. So everyone in the region, including the Iranians, are interested in preventing a return to escalation. And that's why the Iranians are now in Doha after the delegation, the Qatari delegation was here throughout Friday talking to them. So these talks are continuous. Thank you very much. And there are indications that everyone is serious about this last-minute effort to end this conflict. And as I mentioned before, Mohamed Ayatollah Morshab al-Khamenei has ordered his military commanders to be combat ready to deter any threats. I understand also that he suggested that they widen the list of possible targets, both from Israel and the U.S. Just tell us a little bit more about what he's been saying. Yeah, the Supreme Leader has had a series of meetings over the last couple of days and the bearing of those meetings is to show that he's fully in command and that everyone also is listening to his orders. And the senior officials who met him talked about a man who is in charge and a man who is present and a man who is... Willing to see Iran victorious in this war, including, of course, those orders to the armed forces of Iran to be super ready to be combat ready. And also he told them to to take the initiative if they see any signs of an imminent aggression. So Iran is moving from the position of defense. According to these orders by the Supreme Leader to a position of preemptive action if they see that there will be an attack. So they're not going to wait for bombs to fall on targets inside Iran. They're going to act even before those bombs fall. Mohamed, thank you very much indeed, Mohamed Val, there in Tehran. Let's go to Rosalind Jordan. She's live for us in Washington, D.C. Abbas Araghchi is, Mohamed, just explaining there, saying there are no plans to meet with U.S. officials. He's saying he's studied the U.S. vice president message, though. Do we know any more about what that message actually was? Well, it's been reported that the letter from the vice president, J.D. Vance, essentially was asking the Iranians if they were prepared to return to negotiations to try to end the war, which ended back on started back on February 28th. Excuse me. But a short time later, after those reports came out about the contents of Vance's letter to the Iranian government, the U.S. president, Donald Trump. Basically contradicted his vice president and said no, this wasn't about trying to restart negotiations. We're not interested in negotiating with the Iranians. We don't think that they would be negotiating in good faith if we sat down with them. This was simply trying to open a discussion about getting emergency medical aid into Iran, a humanitarian gesture, nothing more. So conflicting messages coming from. The Trump administration about the contents of the letter. That said, there has not been any pushback on the fact that there has been this U.S. outreach, even though the Trump administration has taken great pains to say in recent months that it's been the Iranians who have been asking for direct intervention, not the other way around And Rosalind, as I was mentioning before, Iran's Supreme Leader ordering his military to up their combat readiness. And it also, of course, comes after President Donald Trump says he was considering resuming attacks on Iran. That's right. In recent weeks, there's been a lot of speculation that the Trump administration, along with the Israeli government, would launch another short-term round of airstrikes on both military and dual-use military and civilian targets to try to induce Tehran to come back to the bargaining table. But the war is highly unpopular with U.S. voters, and it appears It appears, although we're still a couple of days away from the midterm elections, it appears that the U.S. is not going to be launching any sort of military operation against Iranian targets. What we have seen in the past week or so is the U.S. President Donald Trump suggesting that there could be a reprise of what the U.S. called epic fury, the airstrikes at the beginning of the war in February, March and April. And doing so perhaps right after the midterm elections have been concluded on Tuesday here in the United States. There are numerous reports indicating that U.S. military personnel are restocking ammunition and other munitions. That vessels are moving toward the Persian Gulf region to be prepared for another sort of military operation. The U.S. has been steadfast in saying it's not going to say what we're going to do. Whether it's getting ready for another military operation. But all the signs are there, perhaps, for something to take place in the coming days or weeks. Reporting there from Washington, D.C., that's Rosalind Jordan. Ros, thank you.