The US and Iran will hold indirect talks in Qatar.
The US and Iran will hold indirect talks in Doha, Qatar, on July 2nd, mediated by Qatar and Pakistan, aiming to advance the negotiation process and de-escalate tensions following recent attacks and retaliatory actions between the two sides.
According to AFP, the discussions will take place at the technical level and focus on the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding that the two sides reached with the mediation of Qatar and Pakistan. A diplomat familiar with the negotiations and an Iranian official said the meetings would "build on the progress made at the summit in Lucerne" (Switzerland) last month.
The memorandum includes a 60-day ceasefire aimed at ending the conflict that erupted after US and Israeli airstrikes in late February, as well as provisions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz and a roadmap toward a final agreement to end the conflict and resolve the issue of Iran's nuclear program.
In its latest statement, Tehran rejected earlier claims by US President Donald Trump that the two sides would hold direct talks, even though Iranian officials had already departed for Doha. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said the delegation to Qatar was led by Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, but affirmed that Iranian officials "have no plans to negotiate with the US side at any level in the coming days."
Diplomatic sources also indicated that US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff met with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani to discuss the progress of the US-Iran memorandum of understanding and the situation in Lebanon. However, these two officials will not attend the technical talks with Iran.
In a televised interview on June 30, Iranian Parliament Speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf stated that after a large-scale war, the implementation of the agreement would inevitably encounter many difficulties, incidents, and differences of opinion, especially with Israel's involvement.
He stated that the Iranian delegation in Doha would focus on implementing the provisions related to the Strait of Hormuz and the situation in Lebanon. According to him, Iran is committed to fully implementing the agreement, and the US and its allies must also fulfill their obligations. Ghalibaf also said that Iran's oil exports have increased sharply since the US lifted its blockade of Iranian ports. He stated that since the blockade was lifted, Iran has exported more than 40 million barrels of oil, whereas for almost two months prior, the country was "almost unable to export even a single barrel."
Since the US-Iran agreement was signed on June 17, the two sides have continued to retaliate against each other in the Persian Gulf. Tehran attacked a commercial vessel, accusing it of deviating from its designated route through the Strait of Hormuz. In response, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced it had launched airstrikes on 10 Iranian military targets over the weekend. Iran subsequently launched missiles at US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain, prompting condemnation from both countries.
