Tehran (AFP) – “It is time to submit to Iranian conditions”: Iran is sticking to its line on Tuesday, the day after declarations by Donald Trump welcoming “a positive momentum” in the negotiations to end more than eight months of war.

Published on: 10/11/2026 - 2:14 p.m.

Just a week ago, threats of new strikes were coming from the United States and Israel, but after his camp's electoral rout, the American president has noticeably changed his tone.

Although he still does not close the door to military intervention, he now considers a resumption of strikes “unlikely”.

At the start of this war, triggered on February 28 by an Israeli-American offensive on Tehran, Donald Trump mentioned different objectives, from the dismantling of the nuclear program to the overthrow of the Islamic Republic.

After 40 days of intense bombing and a derailed ceasefire, the billionaire has revised his ambitions and is looking for a way out of this unpopular conflict, which has driven up oil prices.

"Iran is in fact finished militarily. We are simply content to maintain the status quo," he said on Monday, following a meeting in Washington with the Prime Minister of Qatar, mediator country, Mohammed ben Abdelrahmane al-Thani.

Qatari diplomacy announced progress in its “efforts to bring the positions of the two parties closer together”, saying “remain hopeful”.

"Imaginary discussions"

The markets want to believe in an outcome in this conflict which has shaken the global economy: Brent, the international benchmark for crude, fell below the $90 mark for the first time since August, after rising to nearly $120 at the end of September.

But analysts are aware that the belligerents are still far from a peace agreement, underlines Arne Lohmann Rasmussen, at Global Risk Management, while Iran has brushed aside the American leader's comments.

“Stop fabricating false information about imaginary discussions,” responded the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaï. “It is time to submit to the seven conditions.”

The Iranian government has been hammering home these demands for months despite Washington's previous refusal to comply. They include in particular the end of the war on all fronts, the thawing of Iranian assets, the lifting of oil sanctions and the end of the blockade of Iranian ports.

In return, Tehran promises to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic passage for global hydrocarbon trade that it has blocked since the start of the conflict and where it targets ships venturing there without its authorization.

“Long period of uncertainty”

“The conflict with Iran will not be resolved either militarily or by toughening sanctions,” which are suffocating the Iranian economy, says foreign minister Abbas Araghchi.

"The only solution is to adopt a respectful tone, demonstrate diplomacy and respond to Iran's demands and conditions," he insists.

An approach that is not necessarily tenable, believes Iranian political scientist Ali Bigdeli, in the face of "more flexible Americans" since the midterms.

Tehran's demands are "difficult for the United States to accept", he told AFP, calling for direct talks to break the deadlock.

“The two countries have reached such a level of mutual mistrust and uncertainty that the situation has become extremely complicated,” he adds.

In this context, we must "prepare for a long period of uncertainty, during which we cannot take for granted either a definitive settlement of the conflict nor a stable regional order", summarizes Anwar Gargash, the diplomatic advisor to the President of the United Arab Emirates, on the front line at the start of the war when Iran struck Washington's allies in the Gulf.

© 2026 AFP

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