Iran War Updates: Qatar pushes for US-Iran deal despite Trump’s threats to resume attacks

A source familiar with the ongoing diplomatic matter confirmed to CBS News that Qatari mediators were in Tehran on Friday to convey the latest changes to a draft proposal aimed at ending the war between the United States and Iran.

The source said there were signs of progress.

A draft was presented last Sunday by Qatari mediators, and a response from Iran is expected by the weekend. The aim of this proposal is to avoid a return to US military action against Iran, which President Trump has repeatedly threatened in recent weeks.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Friday that two oil tankers were detained after unspecified “incidents” while attempting to transit what Tehran considers an unauthorized route through the Strait of Hormuz.

“Two violating oil tankers, one in the eastern and the other in the western part of the Strait of Hormuz, which attempted to pass through the unauthorized route, encountered incidents and were arrested in the waters south of the strait,” the IRGC said in a statement.

Iran has repeatedly warned carriers that the use of the southern waterway route, encouraged by the United States, puts them at risk, with the regime viewing it as illegal passage.

The tankers had “turned off all their navigation and positioning systems and, with the support of the US terrorist army, were attempting to exit via the unauthorized route,” the IRGC statement said.

The IRGC did not specify the nature of the incidents, which came a day after Iran’s armed forces said at least four oil tankers were forced to stop in the area after hitting sea mines.

The British Navy’s Maritime Commercial Operations Center said Thursday evening that an oil tanker had been hit by a projectile in the Strait of Hormuz. It was unclear whether the ship reported by the UKMTO as having been hit was one of four ships that Iran said had hit mines, but the timing of the report suggests it could be a separate incident.

CBS/AFP

Qatari officials returned to Iran on Friday to push for a peace deal between Tehran and Washington, Iran’s official IRNA news agency, Reuters and AFP reported.

The talks were coordinated with the United States, an official told Reuters.

The delegation is led by a senior advisor to Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister and is expected to meet senior Iranian officials, IRNA reported, adding that the discussions would focus on bilateral relations between Iran and Qatar, as well as developments in the region.

An official briefed on the latest diplomatic developments confirmed to CBS News on Wednesday that Qatari mediators had presented Iran with a new draft agreement to end the war. A senior Iranian official told Reuters that Qatar had only come with “unacceptable” ideasand that Tehran would not change its position on the nuclear issue, which Washington wants to include from the start in the negotiations.

Tehran wants the United States to first lift the blockade of Iranian ports and drop sanctions limiting the country’s gas and oil sales.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a message on

On Thursday, Mr. Trump said a letter from Vice President JD Vance to Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei — which was reported by several media outlets as an attempt to restart peace negotiations — was an outreach intended solely to help get medical supplies to Iran.

Iran has not yet responded to the letter, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

The US Department of Defense added two additional military deaths to its official death toll since the start of the war with Iran more than eight months ago, bringing the total death toll to 23.

The two deaths newly reported on the Defense Casualty Analysis System portal were not combat-related. In total, the DCAS portal indicates that 11 service members were killed by enemy fire during the war, and 12 others died in circumstances deemed non-hostile, including accidents and illness.

Both militaries recently added that the non-hostile deaths involved airmen, including one who died of illness and another for unspecified causes that are still under investigation, the Washington Post said, citing the Air Force.

The two deaths added to the DCAS system are listed under Overseas Operations, which includes deaths recorded by the Pentagon after this one. stopped using the name Operation Epic Fury for the offensive against Iran in May, after Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared the operation over.

The Saudi-led coalition said Friday it had intercepted and destroyed a drone in the Mecca area fired by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

“A drone launched by the Houthi terrorist militia was intercepted and destroyed in the Mecca region,” the coalition wrote in a message on X.

The Houthis denied any attempt to strike Saudi Arabia on Friday, Reuters news agency reported.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said on social media that the group had not carried out any operations targeting Saudi territory, adding that the Houthis only target Saudi oil installations and military bases.

CBS/AFP

An oil tanker was hit by a projectile in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday evening, the British Navy’s Maritime Commercial Operations Center reported, after the Iranian navy said four ships had hit sea mines in the area.

The UKMTO said the projectile-hit ship was leaving the strait via the southern route, which the United States has encouraged international shipping companies to use, when it came under fire.

“No crew injuries or environmental impacts have been reported at this time,” the UKMTO said.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its military said in two separate announcements Thursday that four oil tankers hit sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz, causing fires.

It was not clear whether the ship reported by the UKMTO as having been hit by a projectile was one of four ships that Iran said had hit mines, but the timing of the maritime observer’s report suggests it may have been a separate incident.

Iran has yet to respond to a letter sent by Vice President JD Vance to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei, according to the semi-official Tasnim News agency, closely affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Tasnim said in a post on its official Telegram social media account on Thursday that Tehran was not ready to abandon any of its core conditions for a ceasefire, which include lifting the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports, easing sanctions and providing Iran with access to its frozen financial assets held abroad, among others.

Multiple media outlets reported that Vance’s letter to Rezaei was an attempt to restart peace negotiations, but President Trump said Wednesday that it was a targeted action intended only to help get medical supplies to Iran.