DOHA: Qatar said on Tuesday it remained hopeful that a deal could be reached between the United States and Iran as both sides review proposals put forward by mediators, including Doha. “Both parties remain committed to the negotiation process; as we mentioned, we are facilitating the real-time exchange of proposals between them,” foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari told reporters, while adding that both sides “are currently reviewing the ideas and proposals we have presented.” However, later on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump confirmed launching strikes on Iran late on Monday as President Masoud Pezeshkian warned no one would benefit from a return to war. It came as US voters prepared to cast their ballots in midterm elections that threaten Trump’s grip on power. Iran’s chief negotiator in talks with the US, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said the Islamic republic was “ready for battle with its finger on the trigger,” while deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi said Iran retained the right to “legitimate self-defense” after the strikes. But Pezeshkian said his government was still trying to resolve the crisis “through dialogue,” adding that “no one will benefit from this war” if it reignited, and emphasising that the country’s supreme leader had recently granted the government new powers to negotiate issues that were previously “off-limits.” Trump confirmed the strikes on Iran in an interview with Fox News, after the Wall Street Journal, CNN, The New York Times and other outlets had reported strikes on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz. “They built an anti-aircraft facility... As soon as it was completed, we hit it last night very nicely,” Trump said on the Fox & Friends show, adding that it was a “minor attack.”