Iran says conditions to re-engage in talks, end war sent to US via Qatar

Iran has conveyed a formal set of conditions to Washington through Qatari mediators for ending the war with the United States, the country’s security chief tells Al Jazeera.

“We remain in contact with the mediator Qatar, which has conveyed our conditions to Washington with the aim of ending the war. We are awaiting President [Donald] Trump’s response,” Mohsen Rezaei told Al Jazeera’s Tehran bureau chief, Nour Eddine Edghir, in an exclusive interview on Saturday.

“Our conditions are an end to the war on all fronts, the release of our frozen funds and an end to the naval blockade,” said Rezaei, who took over as secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council about a month ago.

“It is in Washington’s interest to accept these conditions. Trump’s threats will not achieve any results. We are prepared for a decisive war.”

Mediators Qatar and Pakistan have been working to re-establish negotiations between the two sides since their memorandum of understanding (MoU) expired last month. Regional countries are also seeking an end to the war that began when the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran in late February, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Rezaei did not rule out a new US strike against Iran, calling the possibility “very much on the cards” based on his country’s military assessments, while insisting Tehran was ready.

He said Iran’s military planning had shifted since two earlier rounds of conflict and is now focused on US naval assets, stretching from the Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. Targets beyond that range, towards the Indian Ocean, would fall outside Iran’s reach, he added.

Rezaei said Iran had recently test-fired a multi-warhead antiship missile near a US vessel or aircraft carrier, with the warheads potentially subject to further development.