Iran Prolongs Talks to Sway US Midterms — SkimNews
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- Iran has deliberately prolonged talks with the US to weaken Trump politically before the November 3 midterms, with three senior officials and an Iranian insider saying Tehran is convinced the US president is ready to resume attacks to break the eight-month stalemate
- Iran's "seven-day plan," conveyed through Qatari mediators, offered to reopen the Strait of Hormuz under Iranian control if Washington lifted its maritime blockade, eased oil export restrictions, released frozen assets, and ended hostilities on all fronts
- The US-Israeli war on Iran, launched in February, has helped drive Trump's approval rating to a record low as polls signal Americans worried about high gasoline prices will punish Republicans in the congressional elections
- Iran's economy is absorbing the cost of the strategy: annual inflation hit 73.6% in September, the rial has fallen nearly 35% against the dollar since the US naval blockade resumed in July, and seaborne crude exports collapsed to zero in the second week of September from a 230,000-barrels-per-day average
- US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made an unannounced visit to Israel on Monday to discuss Iran with Netanyahu, three Israeli officials said, a week before Netanyahu's own parliamentary election
- Past rounds of diplomacy collapsed under fire, with an Israeli attack in June 2025 wrecking the sixth round of US-Iran nuclear talks in Oman, and the February war itself launching just after another round of talks ended with further technical discussions scheduled
Why it matters: Both sides have strong incentives to maintain stalemate through November 3: Iran wants to deny Trump a diplomatic win amid 73.6% inflation and a record-low approval rating, while Trump has publicly ruled out bombing Iran before the elections. The deadlock risks entrenching a "neither war nor peace" status quo that keeps the Strait of Hormuz — a vital global energy shipping route — closed, with Hegseth's unannounced Israel visit signaling the military track remains active.
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