Officials from the Gulf states are “braced for the worst” as they wait for Washington’s response to an Iranian proposal that could reopen the strait of Hormuz before the US midterm elections on Tuesday.

Indirect talks in Doha ran into a third day on Sunday with Qatar trying to negotiate the release of more than $6bn in Iranian assets, which could lead to the reopening of the strait of Hormuz and the restart of negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme.

The United Arab Emirates envoy Anwar Gargash said another round of escalation was not in the interests of Iran or any of its neighbours. He said: “We are also, as we have shown before, braced for the worst.”

He added: “Relations with Iran are essential, because Iran is our neighbour and we do not want to see it get caught up in a prolonged crisis.”

Qatar’s mediation continued despite unidentified missiles striking a Pakistan-bound Qatari LNG tanker near the strait of Hormuz on Friday.…