TEHRAN (The Thursday Times) — Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Thursday they had shot down a US MQ-1 drone east of the Strait of Hormuz, as regional mediators, backed by Pakistan, pressed Tehran to let UN inspectors into its bombed nuclear sites in return for some relief from US sanctions.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had intercepted and brought down the drone with an advanced air defence system, Iran’s Press TV reported. There was no immediate comment from Washington.
Inspectors for sanctions relief
Mediators led by Qatar are trying to restart talks between the US and Iran to stop the war resuming, Axios reported, citing US, Israeli and regional sources. They are urging Iran to allow UN inspectors to visit the nuclear sites hit by US and Israeli strikes in exchange for some sanctions relief, and Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey are supporting the effort, the report said.
President Donald Trump told Axios that talks were taking place through mediators but that he did not know whether they would succeed. “We need to finish the job, either through a deal or another way. We will find out if negotiations can succeed,” he said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran was in “close and ongoing contact” with intermediaries. “While our brave armed forces are fully prepared to defend the homeland, Iran continues to give diplomacy a chance to succeed,” he wrote on X, saying Tehran’s seven-day plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz could be implemented “in even less than a week”.
Strikes after the midterms?
The Wall Street Journal has reported that Vice President JD Vance wrote to Iran’s security chief, Mohsen Rezaei, to revive talks, and that Washington told Gulf states to prepare for a possible “short, intense” campaign after the November 3 midterm elections. Trump has denied directing Vance to open negotiations, saying the contact was about medical supplies.
