Iran's Khamenei reiterates conditions for ending war with US

Eltaf Najafizada and Patrick Sykes, Bloomberg News on Oct 27, 2026

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Iran’s Supreme Leader reiterated his country’s conditions for ending the war with the U.S., amid a regional diplomatic push to avert a fresh round of fighting in the Persian Gulf.

Mojtaba Khamenei emphasized the need to implement “the conditions set out by the country’s officials, with the aim of ending the war and the ‘neither war nor peace’ situation” in a meeting with national security chief Mohsen Rezaee, according to a Telegram statement.

Iran has previously said the U.S. must end a naval blockade of its ports on the Persian Gulf and lift sanctions as preconditions of peace talks, while Washington is pushing for Iran to make concessions on its nuclear program.

Khamenei’s statement comes amid a flurry of diplomatic activity aimed at preventing another round of U.S.-Israeli strikes on the Islamic Republic and resolving the mounting conflict in Yemen between Saudi Arabia and Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

Since Sunday, Tehran has hosted a delegation from Qatar – a key mediator with the U.S. – and top security officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan. On Tuesday, China’s Foreign Ministry said it’s also dispatching special envoys to the region “to prevent worsening of the situation.”

Meanwhile, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has been meeting various senior officials and leaders at a gas summit in Moscow, including Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. Pezeshkian is also scheduled to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit, Interfax reported, citing a Kremlin aide.

As well as the war, Khamenei and Rezaee also discussed “protecting national and regional security through the exercise of control over the Strait of Hormuz,” Tuesday’s Telegram statement said.

Disagreements over the strait led to the collapse of the last ceasefire between Iran and the U.S. in June. Tehran insists that it retain control over the waterway, which is vital for energy supplies, while the U.S. wants to restore freedom of passage.

The countries are also at odds over Iran’s nuclear programme and whether the Islamic Republic should be able to enrich uranium.

Khamenei is Iran’s ultimate decision-maker but hasn’t appeared in public since the start of the war, sparking speculation about his health and the extent of his control over policy.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Tuesday that Khamenei was in “complete health and maintains full command of the country’s domestic and international affairs” when he met with him last week.