Iran and the United States are to hold indirect talks with mediators in Doha on Wednesday in a push to advance negotiations and quell tensions following exchanges of fire between the two sides.
Both have said they will send officials to discuss their memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the Middle East war, but Iran has insisted direct negotiations will not take place.
The foes would take part in “indirect technical talks on Wednesday in Doha with Qatari and Pakistani mediators,” a diplomat with knowledge of the talks told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The discussions, being held at a lower level and focused on the details of the MOU, will “build on the progress made at the Lake Lucerne summit,” the diplomat added.
The memorandum of understanding, brokered by Qatar and Pakistan, culminated in a summit last month in Lucerne, Switzerland.
It includes a 60-day ceasefire pausing the war that broke out with US-Israeli strikes in late February, as well as the reopening of the blockaded Strait of Hormuz and a timeframe for a final deal to permanently end the conflict and reach an agreement on Iran’s nuclear program.
Iranian officials were set to travel to Doha on Wednesday but Tehran denied an earlier claim by US President Donald Trump that there would be direct talks.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said the Iranian delegation would be led by Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, but said the officials “have no plans for negotiations with the American side at any level over the coming days.”
US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff will not be taking part in the technical talks, the anonymous diplomat told AFP, after they met with Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on Tuesday.
In a statement, Qatar’s foreign ministry said the trio discussed “the ongoing talks between the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran within the framework of the memorandum of understanding,” as well as developments in Lebanon.
Since the signing of the US-Iran deal on June 17, both sides have exchanged fire in the Gulf, with Tehran targeting a commercial ship it said had deviated from its approved route through the Strait of Hormuz.
US Central Command responded by saying it had attacked 10 Iranian military targets over the weekend.
Iran then hit back with strikes against US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain, which both condemned Tehran for the attacks.
Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Tuesday in a televised interview that “when a war of this magnitude comes to an end... it is inevitable that there will be implementation challenges, incidents, and differences of opinion, especially where parties such as the Israeli regime are concerned.”
He said the Iranian delegation in Doha would be focused on the implementation of clauses in the deal related to the Strait of Hormuz and fighting in Lebanon.
“Naturally, the Islamic Republic is committed to ensuring that the agreement is implemented, and the enemy, the United States and its ally -- must also fulfil their commitments,” he said.
The exchanges of fire appear to have calmed in the days leading up to the talks in Qatar.
On the Lebanon front, fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has been relatively quiet.
Tehran has insisted any deal should include an end to the parallel conflict in Lebanon and a withdrawal of Israeli troops from its south, part of which they have occupied.
Ghalibaf also said Iran’s oil exports had surged since the end of the US blockade on its ports, which Washington imposed in retaliation for Iran blocking shipping through Hormuz.
“From the day the blockade was lifted until today, we have exported more than 40 million barrels of oil,” he told state television.
“By contrast, during the previous 50 to nearly 60 days, we were genuinely unable to export even a single barrel of oil.”
