BlockBeats news, September 29 — According to people familiar with the matter, Iranian officials are privately pessimistic about reaching an agreement with Washington before the U.S. midterm elections on November 3. Iranian officials believe that negotiations over ending hostilities and reopening the Strait of Hormuz have made little substantive progress, and that the likelihood of conflict escalation after the midterm elections is instead relatively high. Iran remains willing to seek a solution through diplomatic channels, but does not believe the Trump administration will abide by the terms of any agreement; Trump has likewise previously expressed doubt about whether a deal can be reached before the elections.The core disagreements in the current negotiations center on the Strait of Hormuz and Iran's nuclear program. The U.S. government has told mediators that Iran must make a firm commitment to reopening the strait and make concessions on its nuclear program. A U.S. official said that the United States will not reach an agreement with Iran before the nuclear issue is resolved; Trump is willing to offer sanctions relief and release some frozen funds in exchange for concrete progress by Iran on the nuclear issue. Trump subsequently publicly denied related reports by Axios and other media, saying he did not offer Iran conditions for sanctions waivers or asset unfreezing, and demanded that the reports be retracted.Qatar is continuing mediation around a revised version of the seven-day proposal previously put forward by Iran. Iran's semi-official ISNA news agency confirmed that Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi has met with mediators in New York, but U.S. representatives did not attend. Araghchi said Iran has conveyed to the United States and the international community the conditions required for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, and has discussed with Qatar a proposal prepared for submission to the United States; after Qatar receives a U.S. response, it will relay it to Iran through appropriate channels. Araghchi then returned to Tehran as originally planned, without staying in New York to wait for a U.S. response.In June of this year, a memorandum of understanding signed by the United States and Iran briefly facilitated a ceasefire and allowed more ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, but the arrangement collapsed in less than two weeks, and traffic through the strait remains far below pre-war levels. Iran insists that the United States must lift its maritime blockade and oil sanctions before the relevant negotiations can make progress. As market expectations for a U.S.-Iran agreement cool, Brent crude oil futures rose 2% on Monday to about $106.20 per barrel.