Iran says Hormuz could reopen in two days if US meets its demands · Trump warns of "the hammer" as midterms arrive · Oil falls 4%

Risk stays high on Monday, Nov. 2, the day before the US midterm elections. Talks are moving and oil is easing, but the threat of renewed US strikes after the vote has not gone away.

Strait of Hormuz and diplomacy: Iran's Foreign Ministry says it is ready to reopen the strait within two days, instead of the earlier one-week plan, if Washington meets its demands: ending the war on all fronts, ending the naval blockade of Iranian ports, unfreezing Iranian assets, lifting oil sanctions, and scaling back US forces in the region. Spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said "the ball is in America's court" and that messages are still passing through Qatari mediators. Iranian negotiators left Doha on Sunday after three days of talks; a draft proposal is circulating and a follow-up meeting is possible. No agreement has been announced, and the strait remains largely closed, with daily transits down from about 140 before the war to fewer than 10.

US posture: President Trump says the US will not launch new attacks before Tuesday's vote, but told an Iowa rally Sunday that "at some point we're going to have to give them the hammer" and that the war will end "very soon, one way or the other." He named a suspected underground nuclear site, Pickaxe Mountain, as a remaining target. Axios reports Prime Minister Netanyahu pressed for strikes right after the midterms in a "tough" call Saturday. Iran's military warns any new war could last longer and have no geographic limits.

Saudi Arabia/Yemen: The Saudi-led coalition says it intercepted a Houthi ballistic missile and a drone aimed at southern Saudi Arabia on Sunday, after emergency warnings in Abha and Khamis Mushait, and says it struck Houthi missile and drone resources.

Ukraine/Russia: Russia launched 193 drones overnight; 154 were downed or jammed, with hits at 26 locations. A guided-bomb strike on Izium killed one person and cut power to the whole city, at least 12 were hurt in a Kharkiv-region village, and Odesa's grid was hit. Emergency