Iran signalled that it could reopen the Strait of Hormuz and resume diplomatic negotiations within two days if the United States meets its demands, even as Washington and Tehran exchanged renewed warnings over potential military escalation.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmaeil Baghaei, said on Monday that Iran has reduced the period for implementing the seven-day plan proposed by Tehran in September to two days, in good faith.

He noted, “We have announced that if Iran’s demands are met, the possibility will exist to restore security to the Strait of Hormuz and start the negotiation process in a short period of time,” stressing that all these depend on the American side’s decision on how to proceed regarding the future of the process.

In tandem with the ministry’s announcement, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said Monday that his administration is committed to resolving challenges through dialogue, noting that Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has granted the government certain authorities to pursue diplomatic solutions.

He stressed that no one benefits from war, adding that the “enemies” will not be able to make Iran surrender.

Concurrently, Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said consultations mediated by Qatar and Pakistan have become “extremely intensive,” involving frequent delegation visits, phone conversations and message exchanges.

Reaffirming Iran’s readiness for both diplomacy and defense, Araghchi warned that any further military escalation by Washington would draw a “far more bitter and severe” response.

The diplomatic maneuvers unfold amid mixed signals from Washington over its next move on Iran.

Tehran reportedly received a letter from US Vice President JD Vance on Thursday, sent at Trump’s direction, calling for the resumption of peace negotiations. Iran described the shift in Washington’s tone reflected in the letter as “a good sign.”

However, US President Donald Trump on Sunday again threatened to resume military action against Iran “at some point,” telling a campaign rally in Iowa that Washington would eventually have to “give them the hammer.”

He was reportedly urged by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a Saturday phone call to strike Iran “immediately after the midterm elections.” US news outlet Axios reported that Trump preferred to allow negotiations to continue, an approach that has raised concerns for Netanyahu.

Also on Monday, US President Donald Trump said that Tehran wants to make a deal with Washington, and that an agreement could be reached. “They want to make a deal, and that could happen,” said the US president.

Underpinning the ongoing diplomatic maneuvers are concrete military preparations and escalating operational risks across the region.

A senior Iranian commander said on Monday that over 30 million Iranians are receiving general military training to defend the country if needed.

The military mobilisation followed a Saturday statement from Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei instructing senior military commanders to ensure that any threat from the “enemies,” regardless of its nature or scale, would be met with an “immediate and effective” response, without geographical limitations.

On the US side, the Wall Street Journal reported that senior US military officials briefed Trump on Thursday on possible options regarding Iran. The United States had also reportedly urged several Gulf countries to prepare for a possible brief but intense military campaign against Iran following the midterm elections.

Amid mounting military preparations, tensions in the Strait of Hormuz have escalated rapidly. The navy of Iran’s Army announced Monday that a “violating” oil tanker caught fire after hitting naval mines in a forbidden region east of the Strait of Hormuz, adding that the vessel had turned off its navigation systems.

Separately, the navy of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps said 11 oil tankers have caught fire or sunk in the strait over the past nine days, following a “demonstrative visit” to the strait by US Central Command chief Brad Cooper on October 25.

A Level-I fire broke out at a timber warehouse on Anand Road in the Malad West area of Mumbai on Monday night, prompting the mobilisation of fire brigade personnel and civic officials. No injuries have been reported in the incident, officials said.

According to the Mumbai Fire Service, the fire was reported at around 9 p.m. at the Ruiya timber warehouse.

The blaze was confined to wooden planks, cardboard stock and other materials stored on the ground floor of a ground-plus-two-storey (G+2) structure.

Following the alert, teams from the Mumbai Fire Brigade, police and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) rushed to the spot and initiated firefighting and other emergency measures.

The fire was classified as Level-I, indicating a relatively minor fire incident. No injuries have been reported so far, the Mumbai Fire Service said.

The incident comes against the backdrop of another major fire at a scrap godown in Mumbai’s Saki Naka area in October, which claimed two lives and left four others with burn injuries.

The fire had broken out at a scrap godown in Abdul Rashid Compound in Saki Naka, Andheri East. The Mumbai Fire Brigade received a call about the blaze at around 6.18 p.m. on a Tuesday and subsequently classified it as a Level-II fire.

The injured were rushed to the civic-run Rajawadi Hospital for treatment. One of them had suffered 80 per cent burns, while the identities of the two deceased persons had not been established at the time.

The four injured individuals were identified as Taufiq Shadil Qureshi, 20, who sustained 80 per cent burns; Jahid Abidulla Qureshi, 20, and Kamal Jalauddin Shah, 47, who both suffered 40 per cent burns; and Lalchand Ramlakhan Gautam, 40, who sustained 10 per cent burns.

A senior Mumbai Fire Brigade officer had said that the circumstances surrounding the incident remained unclear, with preliminary investigations unable to establish the exact cause or point of origin of the fire.

Officials had said that the flames spread rapidly due to the large quantity of scrap material stored at the premises, which also made firefighting operations challenging. The fire was eventually brought under control after sustained efforts by the fire brigade.

The United States attacked Iran’s strategic Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing US officials.

The attacks, carried out on Monday (local time), were the latest in “a series of limited strikes Washington has secretly carried out against the country in recent weeks as President Trump touted the possibility of a diplomatic deal,” the report said.

The United States has been conducting smaller-scale strikes against Iran for several weeks, with explosions reported on social media around Qeshm Island on Monday, according to the report.

Some US officials described the attacks as defensive operations aimed at preventing Iran from freely attacking commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, reports Xinhua news agency.

Unlike earlier in the conflict, the United States has not publicly announced the attacks, the report said. Washington has deliberately kept the campaign under wraps to avoid signalling any intention of resuming major combat operations, one US official was quoted as saying.

Trump said that he was “in no rush” to decide whether to resume military action against Iran. “One way or the other, we will do something, but there is no rush. We crippled them financially. They have no money, no gasoline, and their people are getting very tired of it,” he said in a phone interview with Axios on Monday.

The US midterm elections are seen as a turning point for Trump as he decides whether to launch a major bombing campaign against Iran to try to bring the conflict to an end, Axios reported.

It added that the president appears to be pursuing two tracks simultaneously, allowing diplomatic efforts to continue while preparing to resume military action if he determines that a deal is out of reach.

“Oil Prices are dropping like a rock, down almost 10 US dollars a barrel, a record, because people feel that there will not be a war with Iran. Iran wants a settlement as soon as possible. It could happen,” Trump wrote Monday in a post on Truth Social.

Iranian officials have warned that any new attack would trigger an unrestrained response. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, however, said Tehran remained willing to continue negotiations, Iran’s official news agency IRNA reported.