Islamabad

Qatari mediators held more than 12 hours of talks with Iranian officials in Tehran on Friday, aiming to restart direct US-Iran negotiations and prevent renewed military action, according to Axios. Qatar is also pushing for UN inspectors to visit nuclear sites damaged in US and Israeli strikes. The US insists on nuclear concessions before talks continue, while Iran demands the lifting of a naval blockade, release of frozen funds and sanctions relief. Discussions are set to resume in Doha on Sunday. Meanwhile, Iran says six commercial vessels have struck sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz, and a supertanker carrying two million barrels of oil caught fire after hitting a mine.

North Korea fired roughly a dozen short‑range ballistic missiles from the Wonsan area on 29 Oct, each traveling about 250 km toward the East Sea, according to South Korean military sources. Seoul’s National Security Office labeled the launches a breach of UN Security Council resolutions and convened an emergency meeting, while the United States and Japan receive shared intelligence. The same day, South Korea accused North Korea of placing landmines south of the Military Demarcation Line, a claim Pyongyang denied and warned could provoke retaliation.

Qatari mediators have handed Iran a new draft to end the war with the United States and Israel, a plan with a seven-day timeline of daily confidence-building steps and several guarantor countries that could begin early next week. Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran is in close contact with intermediaries and could implement the plan in under a week, while a senior Iranian official called Doha's ideas unacceptable and not an offer. Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman travelled to Tehran for talks with Iran's security chief Mohsin Razaee, accompanied by military and intelligence chiefs from Pakistan and Turkey. The conflict has been ongoing since February 2026. US President Donald Trump said on 28 Oct he was in a very good position with Iran.