Qatar says its mediation efforts between US and Iran continue to prevent escalation

Qatar's Prime Minister ​said the country's mediation efforts between ​the US and Iran ‌were continuing to ​prevent the situation in the region from spiraling out of control, Al Jazeera TV reported on Saturday.

The ‌US administration remained willing to find a solution even after the midterm elections, signalling that Washington's interest in reaching an agreement had not changed, Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed ‌bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said. Significant progress had been made and Al-Thani expressed confidence ‌that a settlement could be reached.

"We cannot wait to reach a perfect agreement; we hope to reach a good agreement," he said. Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency said on Saturday that initial reports ⁠indicated ​two missiles had ⁠struck Qeshm Island, adding there was no official information on possible damage.

The United States has not yet ⁠announced any attack on targets inside Iran. Countries in the region had been anticipating that ​US President Donald Trump, who has held off on strikes on Iran during the ⁠weeks leading up to Tuesday's midterm elections, could restart attacks once the voting is over. Iran ⁠has repeatedly ​said it would respond to new attacks by striking at US and Israeli targets in neighboring countries.

Iran has been proposing its own seven-day ⁠plan since September, so far rejected by Trump. It calls for Washington to lift a ⁠blockade of Iranian ⁠ports, unfreeze assets and approve an Iranian-backed route through the Strait of Hormuz, after which the contested waterway would be reopened.