Iran’s top diplomat said consultations with mediators are ongoing as diplomatic efforts try to avoid a return to all-out war, and the final outcome depends on answers provided by the United States to the “Iranian questions.”

In an interview shared on his Telegram channel, Abbas Araghchi said Iran hoped the U.S. would choose “diplomacy over other paths.” He said Iran was ready for both defense and diplomacy, depending on Washington’s “rationality."

The UAE is hoping for a breakthrough in negotiations between Iran and the United States while being prepared for the worst, a senior official said on Sunday, following threats of a resumption of the Middle East war.

Iran warned on Sunday that any new war with the United States could last longer than the previous conflict and that U.S. President Donald Trump would not be the one to determine its duration.

U.S. President Donald Trump said overnight that the United States has knocked out much of Iran's military but still has to "take care of" one or two targets, as Tehran warned of reprisals if attacked.

Trump maintained that negotiations with Iran to end the war, which was started by the United States and Israel in February, were "going fine but you know they're not very reliable."

Iran is studying the U.S. proposals contained in a letter from U.S. Vice President JD Vance, amid a positive atmosphere surrounding the path of negotiations and expectations of a breakthrough in the coming period, sources told Al-Arabiya television on Saturday.

Qatari mediators held talks in Tehran for more than 12 hours on Friday in an effort to reach a deal to restart direct negotiations between the U.S. and Iran and avoid an outbreak of war after the midterms, diplomatic sources told U.S. news portal Axios.

Iran's army warned Saturday that any new U.S. attack would only spread their war wider, following threats by America and Israel of further military action as they hold crucial elections.

Oman said on Friday it had rescued 25 sailors from a merchant ship that was targeted and set ablaze, as Iran reported three oil tankers were halted while crossing the blockaded Strait of Hormuz.

A Qatari delegation arrived in Tehran on Friday for talks with Iranian officials, state media reported, as mediators press efforts to revive peace talks with the United States.

According to the IRNA state news agency, the delegation, headed by a senior adviser to Qatar's prime minister, came to discuss "bilateral relations... as well as regional developments" with senior Iranian officials.

The Saudi-led coalition said on Friday it intercepted and destroyed a drone fired by Yemen's Houthis in the Mecca region, with the group later denying it targeted Islam's holiest city.

"A drone launched by the terrorist Houthi militia has been intercepted and destroyed in the Mecca region," coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki wrote in a post on X.