Daijiworld Media Network - Tehran
Tehran, Nov 9: Efforts to broker a peace agreement between Iran and the United States have stalled following the Republican Party's heavy losses in the US midterm elections, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday, adding that regional mediators had temporarily halted their diplomatic visits.
Speaking to Iranian state television, Araghchi said mediators had not travelled in recent days following what he described as the "shock" caused by the US election results, which saw President Donald Trump's Republican Party suffer significant setbacks.
"We now have to see how long it will take for them to digest these results, in order to determine how we are going to move forward," Araghchi said.
He added that the election outcome had affected the diplomatic atmosphere and that it would take some time before conditions became favourable for mediators to resume their visits.
"For the past few days, there has been no more travel (by mediators), and the reason for this is the shock that the election results in the United States have caused to everyone," he said, calling for patience.
Regional countries, particularly Qatar and Pakistan, have been making diplomatic efforts for several months to secure a permanent end to the conflict between Iran and the United States and Israel, which began in late February.
Despite several rounds of indirect negotiations, the efforts have yet to produce a comprehensive agreement.
Although large-scale military confrontations have largely subsided, tensions remain high, particularly over maritime security and control of the strategically important Strait of Hormuz.
Iran continues to maintain its blockade efforts in the vital waterway, while the US Navy has imposed a counter-blockade on Iranian ports, keeping pressure on Tehran's oil exports and international shipping.
Iran reiterates two-day peace proposal
Earlier on Sunday, Araghchi issued a message to Washington through social media platform X, urging the Trump administration to respond to Iran's conditions for ending the conflict.
"American voters have made their choice. Time for the White House to make its own," he wrote.
He reiterated that Iran's two-day proposal for resolving the standoff remained on the table, calling on Washington to accept Tehran's demands, including an end to the war on all fronts.
He warned that the alternative would be a return to military confrontation.
"Or choose war, and see our alert and battle-hardened warriors rain down hell," Araghchi said.
Iran had initially presented a seven-day proposal in September to facilitate the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. The conditions included an end to hostilities across all fronts, the unfreezing of Iranian assets held abroad, the lifting of oil sanctions and an end to the US naval counter-blockade of Iranian ports.
Tehran subsequently proposed reducing the implementation period from seven days to just two days, an offer Araghchi reiterated in his latest statement.
The proposal is aimed at addressing the immediate maritime and economic standoff, although significant differences remain between Washington and Tehran over the broader terms of a settlement.
The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world's most important energy shipping routes, carrying a substantial share of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies. Any prolonged disruption could have serious consequences for international energy markets, shipping and global trade.
With diplomatic movements currently on hold following the US election results, the prospects for restarting negotiations will depend on the positions adopted by Washington and Tehran in the coming days.