Iran's Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has given the government authority to negotiate, IRNA reports, which settles who can say yes but not yet what Tehran will say.

President Pezeshkian has said the Supreme Leader has final decision-making authority in Iran, and Axios reported that US and Israeli officials expect Tehran to seek his approval. Without a deal, Axios said, Iran faces a week-long bombing campaign. Khamenei succeeded his father after the February 2026 airstrike and has not been seen in public, according to reports, which is why a formal grant matters.

On Monday Iran said it is not yet at the stage for nuclear negotiations with the United States and still rejects Washington's Hormuz plan. It called the seven-day plan's terms "unacceptable demands" on October 28 and insists the US blockade be lifted before Hormuz talks proceed. Permission to talk is not a change of terms.

Other signals from Tehran point the other way. On October 31 the Supreme Leader ordered forces to widen the target list to US and Israeli "intangible" assets, and the armed forces chief says planning is finished. A Qatari LNG carrier was hit by projectiles in the Gulf on Sunday after Iran cleared its voyage, and nobody has claimed the attack.

Iran owes a reply to a Qatari draft by the end of the week, while Trump says no strike will come before the November 3 election and Netanyahu has pressed him to resume strikes after the midterms.

© Raydn · raydn.us