American representatives arrived in Doha on Tuesday for discussions with Qatari officials about ongoing negotiations with Iran, following a memorandum of understanding between Tehran and Washington earlier this month aimed at halting the Middle East conflict.
The talks come amid conflicting statements from the US, Iran and Qatar about the nature and scope of the meetings, with both Tehran and Doha rejecting claims by US President Donald Trump that direct negotiations between the longtime adversaries would take place.
US envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner travelled to the Qatari capital for what the Gulf state described as consultations with mediators rather than face-to-face talks with Iranian officials.
Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari confirmed the American delegation’s presence but clarified that “they are not here for their negotiations with the Iranians”. He said the envoys would meet with Qatari officials to discuss regional issues, including negotiations with Iran and developments in Lebanon.
The meetings followed Trump’s announcement on social media claiming Iran had requested fresh talks. “IT WILL TAKE PLACE TOMORROW IN DOHA!” he wrote on Monday.
However, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said a team of experts would only arrive in Doha “later this week” for technical discussions about implementing the deal, not for direct talks with American counterparts. “We have not yet entered the stage of negotiating a final agreement,” he said, adding that Iran would not hold negotiation meetings with the US “at any level” over the coming days.
Key issues under discussion
A central element requiring resolution is Iran’s control over the strategic Strait of Hormuz, with the agreement providing for the waterway’s reopening. Traffic through the strait decreased over the weekend after a vessel was struck whilst transiting on Saturday.
A US official confirmed talks were “slated to continue on all areas of the MoU”.
Iran has also held recent discussions with Oman regarding what it termed the “future management” of vessels passing through the Hormuz strait.
Another critical issue for Tehran is accessing funds frozen under US sanctions. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Monday that steps to unfreeze the assets were “underway”, stating that $6 billion would be released to Iran from a total of $12 billion.
Baqaei said on Tuesday that talks with Qatar would likely be held “tomorrow” concerning the release of Iran’s restricted assets.
Reduction in hostilities
Since the US-Iran deal was signed, both sides have exchanged sporadic fire in the Gulf, with Tehran’s enforcement of its claim to the Strait of Hormuz sparking repeated confrontations.
Early on Sunday, US Central Command said it had struck 10 Iranian military targets over “continued Iranian aggression against commercial shipping”. Iran said it responded with strikes against US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain, which both condemned Tehran.
However, those exchanges appear to have subsided in recent days ahead of the Qatar talks.
Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon has also been relatively quiet recently. Tehran has insisted any agreement must include an end to that parallel conflict and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon, part of which they currently occupy. The lull in fighting began in the days following the announcement of the Iran-US deal.
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