Iranian and US negotiating teams are due in Doha this week, but Iran said no meeting had been scheduled as weekend missile fire from both sides tested the interim ceasefire to end the four-month-old war.
US President Donald Trump is sending his son-in-law Jared Kushner and his envoy Steve Witkoff to lead the negotiating team, according to his Press secretary Karoline Leavitt. And Iran is sending its technical delegation to Qatar this week, but Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said this had “no relation” to the Americans’ visit and no talks between the two sides were scheduled.
“We will not have any negotiation meetings at any level with the American side in the coming days,” Baghaei said.
The disagreement over whether the sides would even meet underscored the fragility of a June 17 accord that paused a conflict that has disrupted global oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz and created a political headache for Trump ahead of November’s congressional elections.
The US and Iran gave themselves at least 60 days to implement the 14-point memorandum of understanding to extend an April ceasefire, discuss Iran’s nuclear energy and research programs and stockpile of highly enriched uranium that Trump had wanted to remove, and negotiate a permanent truce. But progress has been halting, with each side accusing the other of violating agreed terms.
After the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow chokepoint that previously carried about a fifth of the global oil trade, came to a virtual standstill. Israel has not joined the US-Iran peace talks and has distanced itself from the agreement.
Closure of the waterway sent oil prices to above $100 a barrel, pushing up global inflation and putting pressure on Trump ahead of the midterm elections that will determine control of the US Congress, where some of his fellow Republicans have criticised the president waging war without legislators’ authorisation.
A senior Iranian official said there would be a meeting in Doha today, but unlike previous technical talks between Iran and US teams in Switzerland, the focus would be on managing the Strait of Hormuz and de-escalating tensions.
Another official with knowledge of the plans said technical teams from the US and Iran are expected to meet separately with Qatari and Pakistani mediators tomorrow.
In the latest ceasefire agreement, Iran agreed to “make arrangements using its best efforts for the safe passage” of tankers and other commercial ships through the strait. After the signing, there was a brief surge in shipping traffic, which proved short-lived after Iran said it would stop vessels not following shipping channels it had approved.
Flexing its control of the strait shared with neighbouring Oman, Iran has also said it plans to charge fees to ships using the strait after the 60 days have passed, which was not so before the war, angering Trump.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said yesterday that $6 billion out of $12bn of assets frozen in Qatar would be released following the accord and returned to Iran, Iranian state media reported. He described the memorandum, which includes US waivers for sanctions on Iran’s oil and petrochemical sectors, as “a great victory for the Iranian people.”
The senior Iranian official said Qatar and Iran were in the final stages of agreeing on technicalities for the release of the first $6bn of frozen assets, which he said would be issued in two tranches.
French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday said he was working with Oman to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East and would co-operate with partners to de-mine the Strait of Hormuz.
“We have decided to collaborate, in conjunction with our partners, on clearing mines from the Strait in order to secure maritime routes and guarantee free and unconditional passage through the Strait of Hormuz,” Macron wrote on social media after meeting with Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said at the Elysee Palace.
The tensions between Washington and Tehran have also complicated efforts to end fighting in Lebanon. Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, an ally of Iran-backed Hizbollah, has cast doubt on a US-brokered agreement between Lebanon and Israel aimed at halting the conflict.
Berri warned yesterday that the deal could lead to attempts to divide Lebanese and said it would not be implemented.
The latest round of conflict in Lebanon began after Hizbollah struck Israel early in the war, in what it said was support of its backer Iran.
Israel invaded in March, leading to mass displacement and more than 4,000 deaths in Lebanon. The US-Iran ceasefire agreement signed this month explicitly includes an ending of hostilities in Lebanon, and Iran has said this must include Israel removing its troops from southern Lebanon.
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