Qatari mediators held more than 12 hours of talks with Iranian officials in Tehran on Friday in an attempt to restart direct negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, a source told CNBC on Saturday. The talks aimed to reach a deal to avoid a possible resumption of American-led attacks on Iran after the U.S. midterm elections scheduled for Tuesday.
Iran promised a "geographically unrestricted response" to any new attacks by the U.S., according to a statement posted on Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei's Telegram account Saturday. The statement said "any level or type of threat must be met with an immediate, impactful, and geographically unrestricted response."
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Kraghchi said there are no plans to meet U.S. officials, calling reports of direct talks "merely media speculation" per Al Jazeera. An Iranian delegation headed to Qatar for talks with mediators.
A preliminary agreement signed on June 17 between the U.S. and Iran to halt fighting broke down weeks later. The conflict began on Feb. 28 with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iranian targets. The last confirmed U.S. strikes on Iran occurred on Sept. 1.
Oil prices jumped more than 2% on Friday amid concerns over potential escalation. Brent crude futures for December settled up $2.76, or 2.4%, at $117.64 a barrel, after touching a high of $118. The more active January contract gained $2.63 to $113.43.