Iran's Top Leaders Urge Military to Accept Qatar's Peace Plan

Iran's political heavyweights are pushing the military to play ball. President Masoud Pezeshkian, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf all urged the armed forces to respond positively to Qatar's proposal for ending the conflict in the Middle East, Al-Arabiya reported Tuesday.

The Qatari plan comes down to a straight trade. Iran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and in return the United States would lift its naval blockade and the sanctions it has piled on the country. It's a big ask on both sides, and it puts the world's most important oil chokepoint at the center of the bargaining table.

There's a catch, though. People familiar with the matter say Iran still expects the US to resume airstrikes against it, even as its senior political leadership leans toward saying yes to Qatar's offer. In other words, Tehran's diplomats are negotiating while bracing for more bombs.

That split — political leaders courting a deal, military planners preparing for the worst — sums up the moment. The three officials named in the report span Iran's presidency, its foreign ministry and its parliament, giving the push for acceptance some serious institutional weight.

What happens next hinges on two things: whether Iran's military actually listens, and whether Washington shows any appetite for the swap. Neither side has signaled publicly that a deal is close.