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Iran Conflict 2026
29OCT

Iran demands guarantees before US talks

2 min read
17:49UTC

Iran's foreign minister told the OIC in Baghdad on 17 October that Tehran will talk only with credible guarantees against new attacks.

ConflictDeveloping
Key takeaway

Tehran answered Washington's reply with a new condition: credible guarantees against fresh attacks.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi addressed the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the main bloc of Muslim-majority states, in Baghdad on 17 October. He said Iran will talk only with "credible guarantees" against new attacks⁠1. He said Iran "does not accept coercion, threats and intimidation". He pointed back to the Hormuz plan Qatar carried for Tehran. Washington's written answer came back through Doha on 29 September. Tehran has answered it so far only with this new condition.

Araghchi said Iran could help broker dialogue on Yemen, and met the Turkish and Egyptian foreign ministers, Hakan Fidan and Badr Abdelatty, on the sidelines⁠2⁠3. In the same week Mohammad Mokhber, an adviser to the Supreme Leader, called the war with Yemen "nothing but fratricide", state-affiliated Mehr reported⁠4. Tehran is offering itself as a Yemen broker while a Leader's adviser calls the war fratricide.

Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei denied on 4 October that Iran had offered International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections for sanctions relief⁠5. "Iran has not put forward any issue in exchange for sanctions relief," he said. Inspectors have reached only certain operations at the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant since the 2025 strikes. The Wall Street Journal, citing officials it does not name, reports that Iran is strengthening defences around sensitive sites, nuclear ones included⁠6.

Deep Analysis

In plain English

Iran and the US are not talking face to face. Messages pass through mediators, chiefly Qatar and Oman. In September Washington sent a written answer to an Iranian plan for reopening the strait of Hormuz. Iran has not replied in public. Now its foreign minister says Iran wants firm promises it will not be attacked again before it negotiates. The OIC (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation) is a body of 57 mostly Muslim-majority states. Its foreign ministers met in Baghdad.

Deep Analysis
Root Causes

Iran's demand rests on a record: Oman-mediated nuclear talks with Washington were still scheduled when Israel struck on 13 June 2025. Tehran argues that negotiating without protection invites attack mid-process.

US law gives the president wide room to withdraw from executive agreements without Congress. Any guarantee short of a Senate-ratified treaty can be undone, which is why Tehran keeps asking for something Washington struggles to give.

What could happen next?
  • Meaning

    A guarantees demand moves the bargaining from Hormuz terms to US conduct, which lengthens any path to a deal.

  • Opportunity

    Iraq's OIC chair and Turkish and Egyptian contacts give Tehran forums outside Qatar and Oman to shop its position.

First Reported In

Update #181 · Houthi missiles kill 13 at Riyadh's airport

Middle East Monitor· 17 Oct 2026
Read original →
Different Perspectives
United States (Joint Maritime Information Center)
United States (Joint Maritime Information Center)
The JMIC, the US-led naval reporting cell, rated the Hormuz threat "severe" in its 25 October advisory, as reported by gCaptain, and warned of possible renewed mining. Eight days earlier it found no substantiation for the Guards' mine claims, while US-facilitated transits ran at about 34 a day.
United Kingdom (CPS and Counter Terrorism Policing)
United Kingdom (CPS and Counter Terrorism Policing)
The CPS charged two men under the National Security Act 2023 over the RAF Fairford incident, and Counter Terrorism Policing said it believes the foreign intelligence service involved is Iran's, LBC reported. The case now runs through the courts; both men are charged, not convicted.
Aden and Yemen's recognised government
Aden and Yemen's recognised government
The Houthis told people to leave Aden airport, in the government-held south, before a missile fell there on 28 October, AFP reported, and police reported a second attack that afternoon. The fight between Riyadh and the Houthis is landing on the south's main civilian airport.
Qatar (mediators)
Qatar (mediators)
Qatar-led mediators put new terms to Iran this week, which an Iranian official called "ideas, not a proposal". Riyadh framed the Tehran meeting as support for Qatari and Pakistani mediation, keeping Doha at the centre of the indirect channel.
Korea Shipowners' Association
Korea Shipowners' Association
The association said the ships Iran listed were sub-chartered to an overseas oil company, not owned by Sinokor, carried no South Korean crew, and that Sinokor was unaware of the warning. South Korea's shipowners are contesting whose vessels the notice covers before it takes effect.
Kuwait (foreign ministry)
Kuwait (foreign ministry)
Kuwait summoned Iran's ambassador, Mohammad Toutounji, and handed him a protest note over the embassy's denial that its citizen took part in the alleged plot against Interior Minister Fahad Al-Yousef. Kuwait is answering through its courts and a diplomatic protest, citing international law and the UN Charter.

Written with AI from Lowdown's published reporting. Not individually reviewed by an editor. Editorial standards.